Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The German Newsweek (Die Deutsche Wochenschau) was the unified newsreel of Germany from 1940-1945. The concept of a weekly newsreel was much older, dating back to WWI, and in the 1930s, there were several different weekly newsreels in Germany. With the outbreak of WWII, these were unified and from June 1940 shown under the title of "The German Newsweek". It was one of the most important aspects of German propaganda.
Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as private TV ownership was extremly rare during WWII. Over 700 episodes were produced, and many of the historical WWII footage we nowadays have comes from the Wochenschau.
This is issue No. 751 from February 10th, 1945.
It shows German soldiers returning to Germany from a prisoner exchange, combat footage from all fronts, German refugees fleeing the eastern parts of Germany from the advancing Soviets, transport planes and gliders dropping supplies, footage from Budapest and a German offensive (Operation Konrad III) against Soviet forces near Lake Balaton.
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Subtitles made by me.
The German Newsweek (Die Deutsche Wochenschau) was the unified newsreel of Germany from 1940-1945. The concept of a weekly newsreel was much older, dating back to WWI, and in the 1930s, there were several different weekly newsreels in Germany. With the outbreak of WWII, these were unified and from June 1940 shown under the title of "The German Newsweek". It was one of the most important aspects of German propaganda.
Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as private TV ownership was extremly rare during WWII. Over 700 episodes were produced, and many of the historical WWII footage we nowadays have comes from the Wochenschau.
This is issue No. 751 from February 10th, 1945.
It shows German soldiers returning to Germany from a prisoner exchange, combat footage from all fronts, German refugees fleeing the eastern parts of Germany from the advancing Soviets, transport planes and gliders dropping supplies, footage from Budapest and a German offensive (Operation Konrad III) against Soviet forces near Lake Balaton.
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Subtitles made by me.
![Footage from German Air Force Bomber Training School- 16 January 1941 [Full HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/olss1ZKMSlY/mqdefault.jpg "Footage from German Air Force Bomber Training School- 16 January 1941 [Full HD]
During WWII, Germany, like all war-waging nations, extensively used bombers, both for strategic and tactical bombing.Flying and operating a bomber is a difficult task, so the crews had to be well-trained to be efficient in combat. This video shows footage from a German bomber school, were future pilots and crew members would receive training in navigation, bombing, target detection and defensive firing with MGs. The footage also shows the first training flight of the new crews.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![“Auschwitz”-Soviet Film about the Concentration Camp Auschwitz (German Version)- June 1945 [Full HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pzqO_Up4Qws/mqdefault.jpg "“Auschwitz”-Soviet Film about the Concentration Camp Auschwitz (German Version)- June 1945 [Full HD]
Auschwitz is the title of a Soviet documentary/propaganda film about the infamous German concentration camp Auschwitz in occupied Poland, where around 1,1 Million people, the majority Jews, were killed by the Germans as part of the Holocaust.
The camp in Auschwitz has become a symbol of the Holocaust, and the date of its liberation, January 27th, 1945, is nowadays remembered as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Shortly after the Liberation, in January and February, Soviet cameramen arrived at Auschwitz, taking the earliest photos and footage of the camp. This also included a number of staged and re-enacted scenes, such as of the Liberation itself, which was not filmed originally.
The footage was then edited into a movie simply called Auschwitz which premiered in Moscow in May 1945; a German dub was created in June and mainly shown in the Soviet occupation zones in Germany and Austria.
Many scenes from this film were later used in documentaries about the Holocaust.
The film contains a number of inaccuracies, such as the early claims by the Soviets that around 4 million people were killed in Auschwitz (in reality, this number was at 1,1 million). These inaccuracies are mostly because the full extent of the Holocaust was not well researched so shortly after the end of the war, but also because the Soviets wanted to keep the numbers higher for propaganda reasons.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![German Newsweek No. 606-16 April 1942 [Full HD] (Panzer III Production, Combat Footage North Africa)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r-0wCIqd4xA/mqdefault.jpg "German Newsweek No. 606-16 April 1942 [Full HD] (Panzer III Production, Combat Footage North Africa)
The German Newsweek (Die Deutsche Wochenschau) was the unified newsreel of Germany from 1940-1945. The concept of a weekly newsreel was much older, dating back to WWI, and in the 1930s, there were several different weekly newsreels in Germany.
With the outbreak of WWII, these were unified and from June 1940 shown under the title of The German Newsweek.
It was one of the most important aspects of German propaganda. Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as private TV ownership was extremly rare during WWII.
These newsreels were, of course, not a neutral news source, but would rather spread Nazi propaganda, trying to create the impression that Germany was winning the war and that Germany was fighting a just war, without mentioning the countless war crimes and crimes against humanity commited by German forces.
285 wartime issues were produced, from September 1939 (No. 470) to March 1945 (No. 755).
This is issue No. 606, from mid-April 1942.
It starts by showing a concert from the Berlin Philharmonic in a German armament factory, and then Panzer III and StuG III production in that same factory. Other scenes include awarding of successful German fighter pilots, aerial combat footage from the Eastern Front, German and Romanian soldiers fighting in Crimea, and a visit of Grand Admiral Raeder on a German battleship.
The next scenes show German navy units in Italian harbors, and finally scenes of supply convoys on their way to Africa, and combat footage from German and Italian troops in North Africa.
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Subtitles made by me.")
