The Battle of Britain

A DEFEATED PEOPLE : a film about the government of the British Occupied Zone of Germany [Main Title]

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Catalogue number
  • CVN 252
Production date
1946
Place made
GB
Subject period
Creator
Category
film

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Object description

The problems faced by the military government, both practical and moral, in the British zone of occupied Berlin.

Full description

Commentary describes the German defeat, over footage of the damage inflicted upon Berlin and the refugees left over. "The Allied Military Government cannot afford to leave the Germans" and must "prod [them] into getting their house in order." Reconstruction - railways etc. The housing problem; thousands living in deprivation in bombed streets. Krupp mansion, Villa Hügel, in Essen occupied by coal control who have taken over coal distribution on the Ruhr; "Operation Coal Scuttle". Forestry. The Hamburg Central Postal Enquiry Service registering missing persons. Movement and processing of refugees. (Reel 2) Law and order: military government courts; new German Police Force. Health: RAMC and Red Cross. Education: the need to tell the children "that there are other things in life than Nazism and war". Ruins: school, Reichstag - "Berlin still has the aspect of a battlefield". Krupp family singled out for criticism. Demobilisation of Wehrmacht; each soldier interviewed, and Nazis are winkled out and sent "back to the cage". Night-time curfew; people disappear into air-raid shelters. New judges seen being sworn in; children playing; implied vision of a new peaceful Germany.

Physical description

35mm

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