German Newsweek No. 601 - 11 March 1942

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. 601 from March 11th, 1942.
It shows wounded soldiers relaxing in a resort area in Austria, female workers working on farms, German U-Boats returning from patrol, various combat footage from the northern parts of the Eastern Front, including Finish troops, aswell as convoys going to North Africa and combat footage from Africa.
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Subtitles made by me.

[@GermanWWIIArchive]

Remarks: 00:44 Salzkammergut is a resort area in Austria, close to Salzburg. 03:16 Paris, or more specifically the western suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, was bombed by the British on March 3rd, 1942. However, unlike claimed here, the attack was not aimed at civilian area, it was rather directed at the massive Renault plant in that area, which produced airplane engines and trucks for the German Wehrmacht, which mostly went to the Eastern Front. The bombing was therefore intended as a help for the Soviet Union. Around 600 people died as a result of the bombing raid. The Renault plant was bombed again by American bombers in April and September 1943. 03:36 Archibald Sinclair (1890-1970) was a British politician and leader of the Liberal party from 1935-1945. Unlike claimed here, he was not the “Aviation Minister” (such a position didn’t even exist, closest would be Minister of Aircraft Production), but Secretary of the State for Air from May 1940 to May 1945. 03:53 This is said in a sarcastic tone. 04:23 The evacuation of Dunkirk, a very famous event, refers to the retreat of over 330,000 allied soldiers, mostly British, from Dunkirk in late May 1940. The evacuation was largely guarded by French soldiers, who held off the Germans long enough. 04:32 I wasn’t able to find out if such an article was written, however, it is true that there was a certain sense of bitterness and anger within the French population at the British, because many French felt abandoned by the British during the fight in 1940. 06:17 The Germans built many coastal gun batteries on the French coast during the occupation, mainly to shoot at allied ships in the British channel and to bombard parts of South England with long range artillery. 07:59 The slogan on the wall reads “Loyalty for Loyalty” 09:20 Hermann Rasch (1914-1974) was a German U-Boat commander during WWII. He joined the Navy in April 1934 and served as an officer on U-106 from September 1940, before becoming commander of U-106 in October 1941. With U-106, he undertook 5 patrols and sunk 12 ships with 78,500 tons in total. He received the Knights Cross on December 29th, 1942. From April 1943 until the end of the war, he served as a staff officer in various positions. He was released as a POW in July 1946 and worked as a journalist after the war. 09:35 Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909-1977) was a German U-Boat commander during WWII. He joined the Navy in April 1933. He commanded U-48 from September 1940 to January 1941, U-67 from January to June 1941 and U-109 until January 1943. He became an instructor and staff officer after that. In total, he sank 27 ships with 158,900 tons. He received the Knights Cross in October 1940 and the Oak Leaves in September 1942. 09:38 I wasn’t able to verify that claim, but it was indeed common for English radio to report about famous U-Boat commanders dying in an attempt to boost British morale. Not all of these reports were accurate. 09:50 I’m not sure which numbers these are referring to, e.g. if these numbers are meant as the numbers of American ships, ships in the Atlantic or Allied ships in general, but in January 1942, German U-Boats sank 48 Allied and neutral ships in the Atlantic, this number rose to 73 in February 1942 and 98 in March, so the number given here seems to be accurate. 10:14 This unit is probably the “SS-Volunteer Legion Netherlands”, which was first formed in June 1941, and sent to the Eastern Front in January 1942. After heavy losses, it was re-formed in April 1943 as “4. SS-Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade ‘Nederland’ “, and then in January 1945 as “23. SS-Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division ‘Nederland’”. 11:30 Lake Ladoga provided the only route for the Soviets to bring supplies into the besieged Leningrad, by boat during summer and over the frozen lake by trucks in winter. It was therefore a heavily fought over area, with Finnish, Soviet, German and Italian navy units operating on the lake. 12:28 I’m not 100% sure, but I do believe this gun is a 76mm Divisional Gun M1902, a gun produced in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union from 1903-1931. 13:10 This tank is a Panzer III Ausf. F. 15:22 The destroyed tanks in these scenes are Soviet KV-1 Heavy tanks. 15:27 The number of 340 destroyed tanks from February 24th to March 5th sounds realistic. The Soviets had very high tank losses, usually loosing several hundred to thousand tanks per month. 15:45 During the Siege of Leningrad, the city was constantly shelled by German Artillery. 15:49 These guns are probably 15 cm Kanone 18, a heavy artillery gun made by Krupp from 1940 to 1943. 101 were built. 17:01 The Ju-52 was the main German transport plane during WWII. Built in 1931, initially as a normal passenger airplane, it was used as the standard transport plane of the Germans during WWII, when the war started, the German Air Force had 552 Ju-52 available, and a further 2,804 were built until Summer 1944. 17:03 The Ju-52 was certainly not the best transport plane in the world, it was technically obsolete, had only a limited amount of cargo capacity (around 1500 kg), and was very slow with a top speed of only about 265kmh. For example, the American C-47 transport plane was better in every aspect than the Ju-52. 17:51 This is the emblem of a Transport Squadron, but I wasn’t able to find out which one exactly. 18:23 It was common for German gun crews to mark the amount of destroyed enemy planes/tanks on their guns, so, going by the amount of strokes, this AA-gun had destroyed 25 planes so far. 19:52 This infantryman is armed with a K98k bolt action rifle, the standard German army rifle of WWII. 19:58 This is an MG-34 machine gun. 24:25 These tanks are Panzer IV Ausf. F1 with the short barreled 7,5cm gun. 24:41 The German Africa Corps was re-named to “Tank Group Africa” in September 1941 and again to “Tank Army Africa” in January 1942. 25:19 This is a Ju-88 aircraft. It was introduced in 1939 and built untill 1945, with 15,183 planes built. It served a variety of roles, such as bomber, dive bomber, torpedo bomber, night fighter etc. 25:37 The planes shown in this scene are Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers. 27:03 „Panzer rollen in Afrika vor“ (Tanks roll Forward in Africa) was the official march of the Africa Corps, published in 1941. 27:27 These tanks are Italian M14/41 tanks. The M14/41 was a medium tank with up to 30mm frontal armor and a 47mm gun. 744 were built between 1941 and 1942, when it was replaced by the M15/42 tank.

[@cf-1043]

At 24:32, the vehicle that rolls past is a Panzer III. Though we can't see the upper part of the vehicle, the Panzer III is uniquely identifiable by its torsion bar suspension and 6 road wheels. More Panzer IIIs appear in the same scene until 24:43. At 24:47, the Panzer IIIs in the line appear to be Ausf. H variants.

[@user-ColonelValerio]

15:41〜 I think this is 21cm Mrs 18

[@LeifurHakonarson]

RE the Ju88 at 25:19 - Translating "kampfflugzeuge" as "fighter aircraft" is incorrect - should be "bomber aircraft"

[@brentcurlin6403]

I have been a prototype machinist for 21 years and seeing how advanced the germans were in that time will always amaze me. True precision

[@pz3j]

Dont be too amazed. They went to war with no hope of winning. They didnt have enough rubber. The OKW and OKH conducted 7 feasability studies between them from 1938 to 1941, which concluded that the requirements for rubber could never be met and therefor war was unwinnable. They predicted that rubber reserves would be depleted by 1940, which is exactly what happened. Still they invaded Russia. Moreover they based their doctrine on motor vehicle maneuver instead of a railroad based advance. Choosing suicide isnt very impressive.

[@vincentkosik403]

They relied on horses and mules mostly....Addie Hitter claimed all they had to knock down the door and the whole rotten structure would fall.. Oh well, we know how that turned out.. BTW, the octane level in their fuel was lower too...another deficiency Keitel even warned Addie not to invade Russia among many others.. So be it

[@CommentConqueror]

They needed to knock Russia out by taking Moscow like they did France. Nobody believed they could do it there either. The truth is they would have done it too if they wouldn't have treated Russians like Jews. They could have been liberators if it weren't for that. The war could have been a lot different had it been non-racially motivated.

[@DannyBoy777777]

​@@CommentConquerorCapturing Moscow wouldn't have ended the war.

[@dougrobbins5367]

Yes, they created the only "precision" method of mass murdering the innocent, by an efficient industrial process. Your praise is disgusting

[@kc4cvh]

9:20 Kapitan-Leutnants Heinrich Bleichrodt and Hermann Rasch were among the very few U-boat commanders who survived the war, living until 1977 and 1974, respectively.

[@broodicus1]

Keep up the great work! I love these as there is some clips I've never seen before! Thank you!

[@ctlspl]

Who else noticed the smooth transition with the snowball fight?

[@andy99ish]

Fegelein did.

[@MagnumRS123]

Perfect Qualität

[@Wyxoor]

I hope you have this saved not only on youtube beacuse they sometimes take down this stuff unjustly.

[@canuck_gamer3359]

Perhaps the most interesting thing about these films is watching these versions, when the war was still going relatively well and comparing them to the later ones. It is noticeable (at least to me) the difference in the morale of the soldiers who appear in the films. These soldiers were obviously having a sincerely enjoyable time and morale was pretty good. But the later films don't include any film of soldiers playing games and even when forced to smile, it's apparent that things have changed drastically.

[@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044]

It shows a carefree ease later on its more gritty

[@erikgothberg8078]

Well sure they had quite good morale back then, But they sure as hell did not have an enjoyable time! The smiles for the camera is all propaganda

[@uknwarrior7980]

This is outstanding audio quality! How did you find it so clear?!?

[@galapagos4154]

Thank you very much the harsh winter conditions and the real images. Very good to have subtitle support 🙏🙏

[@jeffg6008]

Thanks for translating these!!! Much appreciated 👍❤️

[@user-ls7ui9el8w]

Vielen Dank.

[@captainhurricane5705]

18:12 This is a Ju 52 3m of Stab III KGrzbV 172 taking part in the Demyansk airlift; the SS troops are probably from SS Totenkopf which was in the Demyansk pocket.

[@frank-rk5sq]

The March 1942 raid on Paris was a shocker to me. Has anyone researched this raid, which must have strengthened collaboration if the devastation and losses were so extreme.

[@makslv3547]

Большое спасибо!

[@bloqk16]

I can help but think of the slushy messes and quagmires those snowy areas will turn into when the Spring thaw commences.

[@paulus12345]

For those who are interested at 9:20 both U-boat Commanders Rasch & Bleichrot survived the war.

[@thesignalman988]

Dankeee

[@hassanalihusseini1717]

At around 1:30: How many of these men must have thought something like "I wiish snowballs wee the weapons of choice in this war....especially in the easr".

[@PrussianLemmings]

You seem to be very, very productive recently, brother 😁

Die "Tante Ju" was the true workhorse of the Wehrmacht!

[@rationalconservative386]

The Ju 52/3m transport aircraft?

[@Pinoompje]

The war that is show here are Dutch volunteers fighting with belgium flemish volunteers. My grandfaher is 104 en is in the pictures 11:24 very intersting. Imagine his sister found a Canadian guy in 1945 during liberation in the Netherlands

[@hoodoo2001]

@5:33 Petain, a hero of WWI, would be sentenced to death for Treason but his sentence was commuted to life due to his age. He died in 1951 still in custody.

[@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044]

Unofficially his past hero status probably helped for a grace. It just goes to show what can to the same person in a different situation

[@icecoffee1361]

Great index @GermanWWllArchive very interesting reading 👊🏻

[@Adonnus100]

Comparing the bombings and how it is covered in propaganda and the eastern front infantry combat with the current war makes for an interesting comparison. I also wonder whether any of these newsreels at all contained sound captured on the scene as well.

[@Karl-nv5ok]

All the sounds were added.

[@GermanWWIIArchive]

Not all of the sounds. Sometimes they had microphones with them and recorded "real sounds", sometimes they were added later on. In general, if you have a quite scene, e.g. a scene without combat, the sound is usually real, but combat sounds were often added, such as gun fire or explosions.

[@zacharycook2674]

@@GermanWWIIArchive Can add all this extra sounds but Goebbels couldn't add english captions

[@Adonnus100]

@@GermanWWIIArchive Interesting. Do you have any examples of ones with 'real sound'? (entry on your channel by date is good enough)

[@GermanWWIIArchive]

​@@Adonnus100Just in this episode, the sounds from the submarine yard, e.g. all the banging and hammering sound pretty real, the loading of the planes and ships etc. , These are most likely all real sounds.

[@dankwartdenkhardt5714]

Concering the bomb raid against Paris, I have found nothing about that in the official "Wehrmachtsbericht". Does anyone know anything particular about that?

[@hoodoo2001]

Right at the beginning in the credits is a death cross memorial for Werner Speer.

[@hubertleuschner6383]

In Paris wurde die Panzerfabrik von Renault zerstört

[@dnffuscaamigos7745]

Such a colossal waste of material resources and Human life. Just for nothing

[@thomass.5572]

And they don't learn!😪

[@Bunz69er]

Ahem, 07:50 In English my good fellow, we play musical records on our "turn table", and we turn metal shafts of all descriptions (including cam shafts, or is it really a "crank shaft"? I have no idea 🙂) on a lathe. Lathes are very useful engineering tools, I don't own one, but want one desperately. Have you got one?

[@sirtalkalotdoolittle]

Thank you for showing the propaganda the German people were subjected to. I go back and forth regarding what the average German knew at any given time what the Nazis were doing -- slave labor, for example -- and have always had a hard time accepting the "I didn't know" defense, but these newsreels do a lot of mitigation in that regard.

[@makslv3547]

Спасибо!

[@evgendoz7290]

Ich sehe und verstehe, was für einen starken Gegner wir besiegt haben. Grüße aus Russland

[@sascha151]

Danke

[@hoodoo2001]

@3:11 The Paris raid was on Boulogne-Billancourt where the Renault Factory was the target in a 235 plane low level attack that killed around 600 civilians and heavily damaged the factory. Renault was manufacturing trucks for the German army. Louis Renault was jailed by the French in 1944 for collaboration and died awaiting trial. His family was stripped of any interest in the Renault company which was the only French Company nationalized for WWII misdeeds. Oddly the Renault name was kept and of course Renault became a successful automobile manufacturer. The factory rebuilt by the Germans would be bombed again, this time by the Americans in April and September of 1943. The Renault AHx was a range of light/medium trucks with carrying capacities from 2 to 5 tonnes manufactured by Renault between 1941 and 1947

[@stevetheduck1425]

I liked the 'a surveying team at work' during the single shell fired by the shore battery. It was all five of the cameras and the attendant cameramen, each shooting a slightly different angle of one shell fired. Why survey a gun in a battery firing, when the site had been surveyed before building, during building and after building? The 'Paris suburb bombed' was interesting. Covered in detail by plenty of Nazi cameramen in Paris at the time, perhaps co-incidentally. There were many raids on France and French cities, by Germans and British aircraft, for the duration of WWII. The French did get good at not building aircraft, trucks, tanks and weapons for the Germans, after a while. The Germans helped, too. The air ministry of Germany stole a great number of valuable machines and took them to Germany, where they mostly rusted left out in the open, contributing nothing to the German desperate need for more aircraft.

[@Thenosferatu1900]

Viele Stuka flieger haben den "Jerichos sirene" ausgeschaltet weil sie da selber verruckt von wurden.....

[@wezzskebab3454]

Always wanted to know whos voice is this?

[@rujasu7731]

Harry Giese, passed away in 1991.

[@niklassandstrom7918]

never heard about the british bombing of paris ?

[@GermanWWIIArchive]

Except in Normandy, the Allies didn't do much bombing in France, so it's not very well known. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_France_during_World_War_II

[@eisernesk7170]

Le Havre wurde ausradiert. Ich habe in Erinnerung dass Frankreich ca. 300.000 Bombentote hatte?

[@johndell3642]

This was the bombing of the Citroen Truck works at Billancourt on the outskirts of Paris on the night of 3/4 March 1942. The plant was producing trucks for the German Army, most of which were being sent straight to the Eastern front. It was a great success in that it put the factory out of production. The RAF had gone to great lengths to try to reduce civilian casualties, including asking crews to fly at an unusually low level to increase accuracy. Unfortunately the factory was surrounded by closely packed apartments and the casualty numbers were high, which the German propaganda played upon without mentioning the damage to the target.

[@user-xj2el9dy1b]

Never heard of British bombing of Paris.

[@johnb5463]

One wonders how many if any survived the war.

[@challanger275]

All old men working in the factories

[@knutwalter5162]

And joined the army at the beginning 45 !

[@baldevis]

To quote Basil Fawlty....."WHO WON THE BLOODY WAR ANYWAY?"

[@klebspneum]

Correction of Translation 9:49: .....a total of 98 (not 89) ships with,,,,"

[@mykolatkachuk7770]

Ach, die Deutsche Sprache!

[@GermanWWIIArchive]

Thanks, have corrected that!

[@klubberzvonhatzenbuhl563]

Die ‘schöne’ Zeit……

[@VivaTerlingua999]

Around 13 minute mark...squish

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Wow, that's an every man for himself snowball fight! In America we general play sides. I bet those work maids were slave labor from the occupied territories.

[@GermanWWIIArchive]

No, they were Germans, as they were part of the German Labour Front. Female forced workers from the east were usually used in factories or on farms as workers, not for taking care of children.

[@mykolatkachuk7770]

The Germans had had no time yet to orgizise the forced labor on occupied territories by then. Some Ukrainian and Polish POWs and civiliants were mobilized in 1939-41. But the main campain to move people to Germany only started in the East about April 1942. They needed to orgineze logistics and get prepared to employ the Ostarbeiter in the industry first . However, in my home city Kharkiv the Germans started hunting youth (including minors of 15-16 yars old) already in June 1942.

[@northsentinelisland4763]

It was a reich arbeitdienst badge they wore. Slave laborers had one that said ost (east) on them

[@willhovell9019]

The last happy time in Germany, the year of deep war and determination and courage of the Allied forces, as they began to dig in, with the first victories at El Al Alamein and Stalingrad, as the Nazi mass murder continues across Europe

[@annoyingbstard9407]

By this time everyone but the most stupid knew they’d lost.

[@roopher2]

Great stuff, except for the endless bloody music!

[@warager4753]

Meanwhile, Belzec, the first of the Action Reinhard death camps began gassing operations on 17 March.

[@user-sv1xx9qk1e]

Mg42нема проблем

[@chellenta1175]

Немецкие пулеметчики так н считали, ибо за ними охотились снайперы, минометчики -смертная должность была.

[@SaRkAsMuSoNe-]

I should do the same with old English broadcasts and we can have a old fashioned feud 😂

[@sammik3959]

No news from operation Reinhard? What a newsreel was this? Mfckrs

[@vincentkosik403]

Addie Hitter bite off more than he could chew

[@thilog5874]

Cool, also murderers have fun in the snow...

[@buy.to.let.britain]

Und jetzt, das wetter*...