![“Tran and Helle”- German Propaganda Short about Denunciation- July 1940 [Full HD] @GermanWWIIArchive](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iXhX1hcr3CQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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 is a short from July 1940, dealing with the topic of denunciation. While the Nazis Secret Police, the Gestapo, relied heavily on tips and denunciations from the general public to track down people with anti-nazi views, like communist sympathizers, pacifists, anti-nazi conservatives etc., many reports were simply filed by people due to personal aversion against other people.
Obviously, such reports were rather useless for the Nazi authorities, and they ran multiple campaigns to discourage people from reporting people simply due to personal feud. This video is part of these activities; Tran is reporting his neighbor out of personal dislike for a minor reason, while Helle reminds him that he shouldnt do such things, as they are useless and bother the authorities.
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Subtitles made by me.
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 is a short from July 1940, dealing with the topic of denunciation. While the Nazis Secret Police, the Gestapo, relied heavily on tips and denunciations from the general public to track down people with anti-nazi views, like communist sympathizers, pacifists, anti-nazi conservatives etc., many reports were simply filed by people due to personal aversion against other people.
Obviously, such reports were rather useless for the Nazi authorities, and they ran multiple campaigns to discourage people from reporting people simply due to personal feud. This video is part of these activities; Tran is reporting his neighbor out of personal dislike for a minor reason, while Helle reminds him that he shouldnt do such things, as they are useless and bother the authorities.
-
Subtitles made by me.
![“Tran and Helle”- German Propaganda Short about Denunciation- July 1940 [Full HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iXhX1hcr3CQ/mqdefault.jpg "“Tran and Helle”- German Propaganda Short about Denunciation- July 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 is a short from July 1940, dealing with the topic of denunciation. While the Nazis Secret Police, the Gestapo, relied heavily on tips and denunciations from the general public to track down people with anti-nazi views, like communist sympathizers, pacifists, anti-nazi conservatives etc., many reports were simply filed by people due to personal aversion against other people.
Obviously, such reports were rather useless for the Nazi authorities, and they ran multiple campaigns to discourage people from reporting people simply due to personal feud. This video is part of these activities; Tran is reporting his neighbor out of personal dislike for a minor reason, while Helle reminds him that he shouldnt do such things, as they are useless and bother the authorities.
-
Subtitles made by me.")
![Panorama Color Monthly Newsreel No.4- January/February 1945 [Full HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgAwra8WYkI/mqdefault.jpg "Panorama Color Monthly Newsreel No.4- January/February 1945 [Full HD]
The Panorama Color Monthly Newsreel (Panorama-Farbmonatsschau) was a German propaganda newsreel produced during WWII.
Color film was already invented in the mid 1930s and was commercially avaliable, although color cameras and film were extremly expensive.
Nevertheless, during WWII, more and more German propaganda footage was shot in color, and by 1944, the Propaganda Ministry wanted to create a newsreel completly in color.
The Panorama Color Newsreel was only produced in four episodes, from November 1944 to January/February 1945.
The newsreel was more focused on cultural events, civlian footage, footage from workplaces etc. and contained few military footage/footage from frontlines.
This video is the last issue prodcued, No.4 from January/ February 1945.
It shows scenes from a glass factory, a circus performance, footage from various frontline areas, including the Italian alps, footage from a burning village in Norway after a Soviet air attack, and footage from German Navy net layers.
There are also some annotations from the German Federal Archive before and after the episode.
- Subtitles made by me.")
![German Newsweek No. 727- 10 August 1944 [Full HD] (U-Boat Arctic Sea, Combat West/ East Front)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jqOcB4Ni5mM/mqdefault.jpg "German Newsweek No. 727- 10 August 1944 [Full HD] (U-Boat Arctic Sea, Combat West/ East Front)
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. 727 from August 10th, 1944.
It shows footage of new defensive positions and trenches being constructed in the East, reserves moving to the frontlines in the East and combat footage, including footage of destroyed Soviet heavy tanks. Other scenes show footage from the Normandy front, including French militia, and frontline inspections by Field Marshall Kluge.
The last part is a lengthy section from inside a German U-Boat operating in the Arctic Ocean.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![German Propaganda Footage about the Tiger Tank - 21 April 1943 [Full HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/js6uPjrIzog/mqdefault.jpg "German Propaganda Footage about the Tiger Tank - 21 April 1943 [Full HD]
The German Tiger tank is one of, if not the most famous tanks of WWII. With its powerful 8,8cm gun, thick frontal armor of up to 100mm and its characteristic design, it was one of the most powerful tanks of the war, but it also suffered enormously under technical problems, and the engine was underpowered, often leading to mechanical failures and breakdowns.
The Tiger was often featured in German propaganda, being portrayed as an invincible war machine and an example of alleged superior German engineering. This has an effect untill today, with the Tiger tank still being one of the most well-known tanks of WWII, despite its limited overall effect.
The following footage, aired in April 1943, is an example of that, showcasing Tiger tanks during various trials. It shows Tiger tanks moving across difficult terrain, shooting at targets and even driving through a house.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![German Advance in Greece and Occupation of Athens- 30 April 1941 [Full HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kQ-EGthaNtc/mqdefault.jpg "German Advance in Greece and Occupation of Athens- 30 April 1941 [Full HD]
When Germany invaded Yugoslavia, they also a long-planned attack against Greece on April 6th, 1941. This was both to help Italy, who have been struggling with their invasion of Greece, and to prevent the British Army gaining Airfields in Greece, from which they could strike Romanian oilfields.
The Greek and British troops offered fierce resistance, but they were outnumbered and outgunned by the combined German-Italian forces, which fielded more men and better equipment, especially tanks and aircrafts.
The following is German propaganda footage of the German advance through Greece, showing fighting with Greek and British troops, and the German occupation of various towns and cities, including the capital Athens, which was occupied on April 27th. This footage was shown in German propaganda newsreels, broadcasted on April 30th, 1941.
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Subtitles made by me.")
![Ufa Sound Week No. 486- 26 Dec. 1939 [Full HD] (Battle of Heligoland Bight, German Seaplanes Patrol)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l26CxTzZS8o/mqdefault.jpg "Ufa Sound Week No. 486- 26 Dec. 1939 [Full HD] (Battle of Heligoland Bight, German Seaplanes Patrol)
The Ufa (Universum Film AG) was a German movie and TV company, founded in December 1917. It was founded by several companies, with the German goverment secretly involved; and its initial goal was to produce pro-German propaganda movies that would be shown outside of Germany.
After the end of WWI, however, the focus shifted on producing movies for Germany for commercial profit.
In 1927, Ufa had financial difficulties and was facing bankruptcy, the company was bough by right-wing media mogul Alfred Hugenberg, who continued production as normal, but also Newsreels of the Ufa to advertise his own party and later the Nazi party.
After the Nazis rose to power, Ufa, like all other movie companies, came under strict goverment control, and in March 1937, Hugenberg had to sell the majority of his stakes in Ufa to a goverment-controlled company; the Ufa thus came under direct goverment control.
The Ufa Week was produced from September 1925 onwards, initially as silent newsreel, from September 1930 onwards with sound, hence the name was changed to Ufa Sound Week.
Like all newsreels in Nazi Germany, it was not a neutral news source, but rather full of Nazi propaganda. After the outbreak of WWII, the content that all newsreels produced was unified, and in mid-1940, all newsreels were unified to The German Newsweek.
This is Ufa Sound Week No. 486 from December 26th, 1939.
It shows footage from Japanese landings in China, German recruits being trained in horse-riding, skirmishes on the Western Front, the return of a German fighters from the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, including an interview with fighter pilot Helmut Lent, and footage from German seaplanes conducting controls of merchant ships, and scenes of German U-Boats and Navy ships operating.
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Subtitles made by me.")
