A DEFEATED PEOPLE : a film about the government of the British Occupied Zone of Germany [Main Title]

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  • Title: A DEFEATED PEOPLE : a film about the government of the British Occupied Zone of Germany [Main Title]
  • Film Number: CVN 252
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: The problems faced by the military government, both practical and moral, in the British zone of occupied Berlin.
  • Description: Commentary describes the German defeat, over footage of the damage inflicted upon Berlin and the refugees left over. "The Allied Military Government cannot afford to leave the Germans" and must "prod [them] into getting their house in order." Reconstruction - railways etc. The housing problem; thousands living in deprivation in bombed streets. Krupp mansion, Villa Hügel, in Essen occupied by coal control who have taken over coal distribution on the Ruhr; "Operation Coal Scuttle". Forestry. The Hamburg Central Postal Enquiry Service registering missing persons. Movement and processing of refugees. (Reel 2) Law and order: military government courts; new German Police Force. Health: RAMC and Red Cross. Education: the need to tell the children "that there are other things in life than Nazism and war". Ruins: school, Reichstag - "Berlin still has the aspect of a battlefield". Krupp family singled out for criticism. Demobilisation of Wehrmacht; each soldier interviewed, and Nazis are winkled out and sent "back to the cage". Night-time curfew; people disappear into air-raid shelters. New judges seen being sworn in; children playing; implied vision of a new peaceful Germany.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1945-1975
  • Production Date: 1946
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Allied Control Commission of Germany (Production sponsor) Crown Film Unit (Production company) Army Film Unit (Production company) Jennings, Humphrey (Production individual) Wright, Basil19071987 (Production individual) Warrick, Guy (Production individual) Mathieson, Muir (Production individual) Hartnell, William19081975 (Production cast)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: German Army (regiment/service) British Army (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: administration, British - occupation: Berlin (object name) demobilisation, German (object name) destruction, German military - area: bomb (object name) propaganda, Allied - inspirational (object name) reconstruction, German (object name) law and order, German - judicial process (object name) refugees, German - settlement (object name) society, German - domestic (object name) Germany & Berlin, Berlin (geography) propaganda (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 1727 ft; Running time: 20 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    CVN 252

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