The End of War in Colour

When US troops conquered Nazi Germany from the West in March 1945, they were accompanied by camera teams, shooting in 16 mm colour. The result is a unique 5 x 45 min series documenting the victims of terror and the politics of annihilation.

First there is George Stevens with his team. Since landing in Normandy, the Hollywood director has been following the US armies on their advance. He documented D-Day and the liberation of Paris at first hand. From March 1945 his team started filming in the occupied parts of Germany. Stevens follows the troops on their way from the Rhine to the Elbe, shoots the “Elbe-Day” in Torgau and the liberation of the concentration camp Dora-Mittelbau, where so-called “wonder weapons” were built. Afterwards his way leads him to the south. His shots from the liberated Dachau concentration camp are particularly shocking.

From March 1945, several camera teams of the US Air Force have also been on tour in Germany. Originally they were supposed to document the destruction caused by the Allied bomber fleets as part of the “Special Film Project 186”, but increasingly the people are also becoming the focus of their reporting. Thus, special shots in times of war and the first weeks of peace are always successful.

Major Kirke B. Lawton also has a film camera and colour films in his luggage. General Eisenhower’s man for photo reporting in World War II is always close to the commander-in-chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Thus he is allowed to film the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht in Reims on 6 May 1945 and accompany the US delegation to the Potsdam Conference.

Available for French and Spanish Speaking territories only

The End of the War in Colour: Episode I – Inside the Reich

The End of the War in Colour: Episode II – The Americans at the Elbe

The End of the War in Colour: Episode III – Visions of Hell

The End of the War in Colour/ Episode IV – Unconditional Surrender