Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Just like the Germans and most other war-waging nations of WWII, the Japanese used the concept of a weekly newsreel as an important propaganda tool.
Under the premise of "news", the images and reports shown were carefully select to convince the common people that Japan was winning the war. In 1939, the Motion Picture Law was introduced, requiring the showing of newsreels before and after all cinema movies.
In April 1940, the newsreel production was centralized in Japan, with the forced merger of all big publishing companies newsreel departments into the Japan News Film Corporation, which, from that point on, would produce Japans only newsreel- the "Japan News". These newsreels were produced until the end of the war and even after the war under the same titel, until they were cancelled in the 1970s.
This is issue No. 221, released towards the end of August 1944.
The first part shows "parades" and rallies of various youth organizations, including speeches of several representatives of these organizations, pledging to fight and work for Japans victory. Many of the youth shown in these rallies are still children or young teenagers.
The second part shows the formation of the new cabinet of Thailand, and footage of various volunteer militias in occupied Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Subtitles made by me.
Just like the Germans and most other war-waging nations of WWII, the Japanese used the concept of a weekly newsreel as an important propaganda tool.
Under the premise of "news", the images and reports shown were carefully select to convince the common people that Japan was winning the war. In 1939, the Motion Picture Law was introduced, requiring the showing of newsreels before and after all cinema movies.
In April 1940, the newsreel production was centralized in Japan, with the forced merger of all big publishing companies newsreel departments into the Japan News Film Corporation, which, from that point on, would produce Japans only newsreel- the "Japan News". These newsreels were produced until the end of the war and even after the war under the same titel, until they were cancelled in the 1970s.
This is issue No. 221, released towards the end of August 1944.
The first part shows "parades" and rallies of various youth organizations, including speeches of several representatives of these organizations, pledging to fight and work for Japans victory. Many of the youth shown in these rallies are still children or young teenagers.
The second part shows the formation of the new cabinet of Thailand, and footage of various volunteer militias in occupied Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Subtitles made by me.
![German Newsweek No. 706- 15 March 1944 [Full HD] (Memorial Day, Combat Footage Soviet Union/Italy)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uk7TQmsgpHM/mqdefault.jpg "German Newsweek No. 706- 15 March 1944 [Full HD] (Memorial Day, Combat Footage Soviet Union/Italy)
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 onwards shown under the title of The German Newsweek.
It was one of the most important aspects of German wartime propaganda. These Newsreels were made to show the war in a favorable way for the Germans, even when the tide of the was clearly turned against German after 1943. Even in 1945, they still tried to generate a feeling of resistance and told the people that Germany is able to continue its defense.
They also often contain other elements of Nazi propaganda, such a antisemitic footage, or footage describing the alleged misery or bad conditions among the Allied nations or the Soviet Union, and the superiority of Germany in fields of arts, social programs and living conditions.
Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as well as frontline soldiers, RAD-workers etc.
The showing was mandatory before films, and later, a regulation was added that people were not allowed to enter the cinema after the Wochenschau started, forcing people to sit through it if they wanted to watch a film.
This is issue No. 706 from mid-March 1944.
It shows footage from the Remembrance Day in Berlin on March 12th, footage from an NSDAP Party School, civilians creating their own air raid shelter, RAD ski training, a swimming festival and footage from training of new air industry workers.
The second part shows combat footage from various Air Force units, combat footage from the Eastern Front and from Italy, including footage from the Anzio bridgehead.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![“Tran and Helle”- German Propaganda Short about feeling Empathy for France- August 1940 [Full HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vGIfwECdrAc/mqdefault.jpg "“Tran and Helle”- German Propaganda Short about feeling Empathy for France- August 1940 [Full HD]
Tran and Helle was a popular series of propganda shorts in Nazi Germany, aired from October 1939 onwards.
The shorts always followed the same basic script: Tran, played by actor Ludwig Schmitz (1884-1954) was portrayed as a gullible, easy to fool character, who would regularly believe British propaganda, while Helle was portrayed as a good German who would regulary explain the truth (in the Nazi propaganda sense) to Tran.
The shorts were only a few minutes long and were usually played in front of newsreels or movies.
The series was stopped in Autumn 1940, because it was getting extremly popular and the Nazis feared people could identify with Tran and his anti-Nazi views.
This episode from August 1940 deals with the recent victory over France. In it, Tran laments this and feels pity and empathy for the French, while Helle warns him that the French are out for revenge and would start another war if Germany isnt watchful.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![German Newsweek No. 531- 6 Nov. 1940 [Full HD] (Signal Troops Exercise, Bombing of England)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vV4lG5Or2Zc/mqdefault.jpg "German Newsweek No. 531- 6 Nov. 1940 [Full HD] (Signal Troops Exercise, Bombing of England)
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. 531, from early November 1940.
It shows a large variety of different footage, including harvest in Germany, building of new Autobahn sections, a visit of SA-chief Viktor Lutze in occupied Poland, an exercise of German troops in occupied France and German fighter and bomber squadrons, including a bombing raid of Heinkel He-111 bombers on England, among other things.
This issue also shows footage of Italian troops in North Africa and from Japanese bombers allegedly bombing the Burma Strait.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![German Newsweek No. 684- 13 October 1943 [Full HD] (German Withdrawals, Navy Patrols)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vwesenuTWKw/mqdefault.jpg "German Newsweek No. 684- 13 October 1943 [Full HD] (German Withdrawals, Navy Patrols)
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 onwards shown under the title of The German Newsweek.
It was one of the most important aspects of German wartime propaganda. These Newsreels were made to show the war in a favorable way for the Germans, even when the tide of the was clearly turned against German after 1943. Even in 1945, they still tried to generate a feeling of resistance and told the people that Germany is able to continue its defense.
They also often contain other elements of Nazi propaganda, such a antisemitic footage, or footage describing the alleged misery or bad conditions among the Allied nations or the Soviet Union, and the superiority of Germany in fields of arts, social programs and living conditions.
Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as well as frontline soldiers, RAD-workers etc.
The showing was mandatory before films, and later, a regulation was added that people were not allowed to enter the cinema after the Wochenschau started, forcing people to sit through it if they wanted to watch a film.
285 wartime issues were produced, from September 1939 (No. 470) to March 1945 (No. 755).
This is issue No. 684, released in mid-October 1943.
Its a rather interesting issue that mainly talks about German withdrawals on the Eastern Front, such as the retreat beyond the Dniepr River, or the withdrawal from the Kuban bridgehead.
Of course, the Propaganda puts the focus on the orderly retreat where the German soldiers take everything with them and employ a scorched earth tactic, destroying buildings, railroads, infrastructure etc.
However, all this propaganda can not mask the reality of massive retreats on the Eastern Front.
Other topics include a gliding flight world record attempt, newly recruited Dutch Waffen-SS volunteers, a parade in Estonia regarding the 2nd anniversary of the German occupation, and a scene of a German destroyer group sailing for a raid in the Atlantic.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![German Newsweek No. 511- 20 June 1940 [Full HD] (Invasion of France, Capture of Paris)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wT53EPQSUfU/mqdefault.jpg "German Newsweek No. 511- 20 June 1940 [Full HD] (Invasion of France, Capture of Paris)
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 onwards shown under the title of The German Newsweek.
It was one of the most important aspects of German wartime propaganda. These Newsreels were made to show the war in a favorable way for the Germans, even when the tide of the was clearly turned against German after 1943. Even in 1945, they still tried to generate a feeling of resistance and told the people that Germany is able to continue its defense.
They also often contain other elements of Nazi propaganda, such a antisemitic footage, or footage describing the alleged misery or bad conditions among the Allied nations or the Soviet Union, and the superiority of Germany in fields of arts, social programs and living conditions.
Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as well as frontline soldiers, RAD-workers etc.
The showing was mandatory before films, and later, a regulation was added that people were not allowed to enter the cinema after the Wochenschau started, forcing people to sit through it if they wanted to watch a film.
This is issue No. 511 from June 20th, 1940.
It shows various scene about the German advance into France, starting with aerial bombings of French towns.
Then, the advance of German troops on the northern part, against Rouen and Le Havre is shown, followed by the advance of the center against the Aisne; the capture of Versailles and finally the capture of Paris, including a parade of German troops through the city.
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Subtitle made by me.")
![German Newsweek No. 627- 9 Sep. 1942 [Full HD] (Afrikakorps, Stalingrad, Caucasus, Mt. Elbrus)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wZ1bwWR4s0I/mqdefault.jpg "German Newsweek No. 627- 9 Sep. 1942 [Full HD] (Afrikakorps, Stalingrad, Caucasus, Mt. Elbrus)
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 onwards shown under the title of The German Newsweek.
It was one of the most important aspects of German wartime propaganda. These Newsreels were made to show the war in a favorable way for the Germans, even when the tide of the was clearly turned against German after 1943. Even in 1945, they still tried to generate a feeling of resistance and told the people that Germany is able to continue its defense.
They also often contain other elements of Nazi propaganda, such a antisemitic footage, or footage describing the alleged misery or bad conditions among the Allied nations or the Soviet Union, and the superiority of Germany in fields of arts, social programs and living conditions.
Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as well as frontline soldiers, RAD-workers etc.
The showing was mandatory before films, and later, a regulation was added that people were not allowed to enter the cinema after the Wochenschau started, forcing people to sit through it if they wanted to watch a film.
285 wartime issues were produced, from September 1939 (No. 470) to March 1945 (No. 755).
This is issue No. 627, released in early September 1942, on the height of Nazi territorial conquest.
The first scene shows the funeral of István Horthy (1904-1942), the son of Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy.
This is followed by Scenes from the Afrikakorps, including new German and Italian units arriving in Africa, tank units moving forward and the occupation of the Siwa Oasis.
The following scenes are all from the Eastern Front, showing defensive fighting at the central sector, the German advance towards the Don and Wolga River, including the advance and attack on Stalingrad, and German advances into the Caucasus region.
The last scene displays German mountain troops climbing Mt. Elbrus, the highest mountain in the Caucasus mountain rainge.
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Subtitles made by me.")
