AMERICANS HANDING OVER PRISONERS TO POLAND [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: AMERICANS HANDING OVER PRISONERS TO POLAND [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: NWT 60
  • Other titles: DEFENDANT BALDUR VON SCHIRACH IS QUESTIONED BY THOMAS J DODD AT THE NUREMBERG TRIBUNAL [Allocated Title] NUREMBERG WAR CRIMES TRIAL COVERAGE, 1946 [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Two items: the handover of prisoners at Furth airfield to stand trial for war crimes trials in Poland, and the cross-examination of Baldur von Schirach at Nuremberg the same day.
  • Description: I. Shot of the airfield in Furth, Bavaria, near Nuremberg. There is a truck on the airfield, guarded by armed members of the American army with three prisoners (without sound). There were ten men captured as war criminals who were to be passed over to Poland for war criminal trials; seven of them had already been given to the Poles in Frankfurt / Main, the remaining three had been in Nuremberg to testify as witnesses in the war crimes trials. All were now ready to be sent to Poland. The three Nuremberg prisoners are seen in a truck on the tarmac at the airfield: Dr Kurt Burgsdorff, the former governor of Cracow, wearing a leather coat, glasses and a hat; Rudolf Hoess, the former commander of the Auschwitz concentration camp, wearing a short coat without a hat; and Joseph Buehler, a deputy of Hans Frank, wearing a grey coat and a hat. Included are close up shots of Burgsdorff talking (without sound) and scenes where the prisoners are put in handcuffs and led to a Dakota aircraft of the US Army Air Force (CAT 794). Shot of the Polish Colonel M Musskat, chief of the Polish Mission for Prosecution of War Crimes in Frankfurt, signing a receipt, with several members of the US Army, among them Captain S H Binder (and his assistant Lieutenant David Pitcher ?). Shot of all ten prisoners in the plane. The aircraft's engines start. II. Shot of the courtroom in Nuremberg. The shot from the top of the room down shows Thomas J Dodd (USA) at the speaker's stand questioning defendant Baldur von Schirach (off-screen). Behind him, at the tables for the prosecution counsel, are Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Sir Hartley Shawcross and J M G Griffith-Jones from the British prosecution counsel. William Dodd at the speaker's stand. Shot of defence counsel Dr Fritz Sauter at the speaker's stand questioning Baldur von Schirach on his life and early party career. Instead of the German answers, the translation of the English simultaneous translators is heard in the film. Wide shot from the back of the courtroom showing the simultaneous interpreters, stenographers, court reporters and officers of court. At the tables of the British counsel for prosecution, deputy chief prosecutor Sir David Maxwell Fyfe can be seen. Prosecutor Thomas J Dodd (USA) questions defendant Baldur von Schirach on a certain song which contains the line "we want to kill the priest", sung officially by the Hitler Youth in the early 1930s and printed in an official Hitler Youth song book "Blut und Ehre", published by von Schirach. Von Schirach states that it would be a song on the 30 years war, sung by youth organisations in the 19th century (Wandervögel). Close up of Dodd from behind quoting the diary of the minister of Justice mentioning the indictment of a priest for having objected against that song. Shot of Dr Fritz Sauter and Captain G M Gilbert (?) the prison psychologist talking to von Schirach in the witness stand before the proceedings begin. Close up of Fritz Sauter questioning von Schirach on his early party career and his contacts to Adolf Hitler. Schirach on the financial independence of the Hitler Youth from the NSDAP.
  • Alternative Title: DEFENDANT BALDUR VON SCHIRACH IS QUESTIONED BY THOMAS J DODD AT THE NUREMBERG TRIBUNAL [Allocated Title] NUREMBERG WAR CRIMES TRIAL COVERAGE, 1946 [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: NWT 60
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (NWT 60)
  • Featured Period: 1946-1975
  • Production Date: 1946-05-24
  • Production Country: United States of America
  • Production Details: International War Crimes Tribunal (Production sponsor) United States Army Signal Corps (Production company) Klappert (Lieutenant) (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: German
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 3 Footage: 1780 ft; Running time: 20 mins (ca)
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  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    NWT 60

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