Cinémathèque du Rhin supérieur
Kinemathek Oberrhein

Avertissement^[1]

Résumé

Deutsche Truppen setzen mit Ponton-Boot über den Rhein. Zerstörte Häuser im Elsass.

Métadonnées

N° support : LFS00236 2
Date : 1940
Coloration : Noir et blanc
Son : Muet
Durée : 00:04:45
Format original : 16 mm
Genre : Documentaire
Institution d'origine : Haus des Dokumentarfilms

Contexte et analyse

The almost five-minute film shows various sequences that were made by cameramen on behalf of the city of Lahr shortly after the Wehrmacht invaded eastern France in 1940. The first half of the film shows German troops crossing the Rhine with the help of pontoon boats. The pontoons are pulled by private pleasure boats. In addition to the soldiers, equipment and the wounded are also transported. The film also documents the visit of the NSDAP district leader of Lahr, Richard Bürk (1892-1956) and the Mayor of Lahr, Dr. Karl Winter; your visit is the likely reason for the recordings. This transport of troops across the Rhine is probably a replenishment because the actual attack did not take place at Lahr.

The second half of the film shows ruins of the French village of Marckolsheim. German soldiers and officers inspect the destruction. Some men have started clearing the French army barricades and rubble out of the way. Towards the end of the video, the recordings change again.

The ruins of Marckolsheim are shown in the second half of the video. Marckolsheim is located about 20 km north of Neuf-Brisach, where the Wehrmacht first reached the French bank. On June 14 and 15, the village was almost completely destroyed by bombing by the Wehrmacht. The great offensives of the Wehrmacht were often initiated at the beginning of the war by violent bombing by the Air Force. From Marckolsheim, Wehrmacht troops went to the west, towards Colmar and the Vosges, and north, towards Strasbourg. Colmar was occupied on June 17 and Strasbourg just two days later. Marckolsheim was an important location for the Nazis because the village was on a line between Basel and Strasbourg. The village is also on a line between Germany and the Vosges. At the end of June 1940, Adolf Hitler also went to Alsace. He visited both Strasbourg and Marckolsheim (June 30th). The population of Marckolsheim, like most of the Alsatian population, was evacuated to communities in southwestern France from September 1939. The population of Marckolsheim was brought to the Dordogne and the first residents returned in October 1940. The residents, who returned to Mackolsheim in October 1940, were housed in wooden barracks called 'settlement' because of the destruction. Polish prisoners of war were brought to Alsace to clear up the rubble.