Reel 2
The Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters in human history, taking place during World War II between 1941 and 1945. It was a systematic genocide carried out by the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler's leadership. The Nazis targeted and persecuted various groups, primarily Jews, but also including Romani people, disabled individuals, Polish and Soviet civilians, political dissidents, and others deemed undesirable by the regime.
The Holocaust was characterized by the implementation of a state-sponsored ideology of anti-Semitism, which propagated hatred and discrimination against Jews. The Nazis enacted a series of discriminatory laws and policies that gradually isolated and dehumanized the Jewish population, stripping them of their rights, property, and ultimately their lives.
The mass extermination of Jews and other targeted groups occurred through various means, including mass shootings, forced labour, starvation, medical experiments, and most notably, the establishment of extermination camps equipped with gas chambers. These camps, such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Sobibor, were designed with the sole purpose of efficiently and systematically annihilating millions of people.
The Holocaust resulted in the deaths of approximately six million Jews, along with millions of others who were victims of Nazi brutality. The impact of this genocide extended far beyond the war years, leaving a profound and lasting scar on humanity's collective memory.
Understanding the historical context of the Holocaust is crucial to comprehend the significance of the restored footage. By witnessing the horrors captured on film, viewers can gain a deeper appreciation of the magnitude of the crimes committed during this dark period and the urgent need to remember and learn from history to prevent such atrocities from happening again.
This is a side-by-side comparison of the work showing the restored footage on the right with the original scanned footage on the left of Ohrdruf Concentration Camp and Hadamar Killing Center.
This is part of 6 film reels which was shown as evidence at the Nuremberg Trials of top Nazi Party Officials as evidence of their crimes against humanity. This video shows the powerful impact of the restoration process, as it brings the horrors of the past into vivid clarity. By showcasing the restored footage alongside the original scanned footage, viewers can witness the transformation and gain a deeper understanding of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
Viewer Discretion is Advised. The Footage Contains Scenes Some People May Find Upsetting.
If you are moved by this project, then consider donating to allow us to restore the other reels of film.
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Cost Breakdown Per Reel For Restoration
Quotes From People Who Have Viewed The Footage.
“it's happening again right now in Ukraine”
“I wonder what a holocaust denier's response would be to watching this video?”
Transcript
00:00:09
At this concentration camp in the Gotha area, the Germans starved, clubbed and burned to death. More than 4000 political prisoners over a period of eight
00:00:17
months. A few captives survived by hiding in the woods. The camp is chosen for a high command inspection led by General Dwight D Eisenhower.
00:00:25
Also present are generals Omar N. Bradley and George S. Patton, the 4th Armoured Division of General Patton's Third Army liberated this camp early in April. The generals view the rack that was used by the Nazis to whip the inmates.
00:01:01
They see the woodshed where lime covered bodies are stacked in layers and the stench is overpowering.
00:01:26
Former inmates demonstrate how they were tortured by the Nazis.
00:01:42
American congressmen invited to view the atrocities we're told by General Eisenhower,
"Nothing is covered up. We have nothing to conceal. The barbarous treatment these people received in the German concentration camps is almost unbelievable. I want you to see for yourselves and be the spokesman for the United States."
00:02:08
The general and his party next see the crude woodland Crematory. Actually a grill made of railway tracks. Here, the bodies of victims were cremated, charred remains of several inmates still lay heaped atop the grill.
00:02:41
Another group to visit the Ohrdruf camp is composed of local townspeople, including prominent Nazi party members. They'll be taken on a forced tour of the campsite by Colonel Hayden Sears, commander of the 4th Armoured Division's Combat Command A, which captured Ohrdruf.
00:03:07
A German medical Major is compelled to accompany the townspeople.
00:03:21
Colonel Sears stands by as the Nazis are informed that they must see all the horrors at the camp.
00:03:40
First, the visitors view some 30 freshly killed bodies lying in the courtyard of the camp where they'd been shot on the evening preceding the entry of American tanks.
00:03:58
These two are identified as slave labour bosses who maltreated, tortured and killed their workers.
00:04:10
Next to the woodshed, which the Nazis are reluctant to enter, but Colonel Sears demands that they get a close up look at the most gruesome of sights.
00:04:48
The labour bosses enter.
00:05:06
According to reports, the local Nazis continued their tour of the camp without apparent emotion. All denied knowledge of what had taken place, at Ohrdruf.
00:05:20
They are taken to the Crematory 2 miles outside the camp, where the list of the atrocities is read for all to hear.
00:05:27
4000 Ohrdruf victims are said to include Poles, Czechs, Russians, Belgians, Frenchmen, German Jews and German political prisoners.
00:05:48
The day before these Nazis visited the camp, the Bürgermeister of Ohrdruf was forced to view the horrors he and his wife were later found dead in their home, apparently suicides.
00:06:06
American officers arrive at a Nazi institution seized by First Army troops under the guise of an insane asylum. This has been the headquarters for the systematic murder of 35,000 Poles.
00:06:17
Russians and Germans sent here mainly for political and religious considerations. Those still alive are examined by Major Herman Bolker of the American War crimes Investigation team.
00:06:27
Townspeople in Hadamar, Germany, called this place the House of Shutters.
00:07:26
Meanwhile, at the graveyard attached to the institution, bodies are exhumed for autopsy. 20,000 are buried here, 15,000 who died in a lethal gas chamber were cremated and their ashes entered.
00:08:04
Death books found hidden in the wine cellar of the Hadamar Institution revealed part of the story of the mass killings. The bulky volumes contained thousands of death certificates, profession unknown, nationality unknown was written after each name.
00:08:36
The corpses are lined up pending the arrival of WCIT officers.
00:08:58
Major Bolker performs the autopsy. A detailed listing is made of all clinical data.
00:09:24
Interrogating the institution heads doctor Wahlmann, the taller man was the top Nazi in charge of the place the other man entering the room is Karl Willig.
00:09:33
Chief male nurse. He admits to killing inmates with overdoses of morphine. A testimony of other witnesses substantiated the fact that morphine was issued at the institution without attempt at making a record.
00:09:44
As many as 17 at a time died from the morphine injections. The investigating officers were told that the Nazis never bothered to determine whether a victim may have survived the overdosage.
00:09:54
Instead, all were hustled off to the graveyard and buried in piles of 20 to 24.
00:10:16
The prisoners are removed to await trial, a Hadamar judge told the investigators that when the ten thousandth victim died, the institution heads and Nazi officials staged a celebration.
THANK YOU
We would like to thank the following organisations for funding the project:
Acknowledgements Pending