Der Augenzeuge ­ Part I: The Forties: 1946 - 1947

Film historians ­ indeed, anyone interested in GDR history ­ should take note of this highly recommended video series. We had the good fortune to view the collection of ten newsreels in Part I of the series, in which Der Augenzeuge covered events during the first two years of the German Democratic Republic. The initial newsreel, dated 19 February 1969, began with a clarion call: »Sie sehen selbst, Sie hören selbst, urteilen Sie selbst!« (See Yourself, Hear Yourself, Judge Yourself!) ­ formulated by DEFA filmmaker Kurt Maetzig and used for the next three years, although forever fixed in the memory of moviegoers thereafter.
       What was in that first newsreel? Among other events, the Nuremburg Trial of Nazi War Criminals and the Eder-Przibilski boxing match. Move on to Newsreel No. 3 (March 1946), and you will see footage of orchestral conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, whose de-Nazification trial was recently the theme of British dramatist Ron Harwood’s play Taking Sides, which was then adapted to the screen by Hungarian director Istvan Szabo and presented in the official program at this year’s Berlinale. In Newsreel Nr. 16 (August 1946) you will find some striking images of the Dresdner Zwinger in ruins. Political events are chronicled in Newsreel Nr. 23 (October 1946) ­ Molotov visits Paris and Eisenhauer comes to Berlin. Elections take place in Berlin in Newsreel Nr. 25 (November 1946). Moving on to January 1947, we accompany General Montgomery to Moscow in Newsreel No. 36 and catch a glimpse of a Kabarett performance in Newsreel No. 38. In March, the opening day of the Leipziger Messe (Leipzig Fair) is chronicled in Newsreel No. 44 and General George Marshall’s visit to Berlin in Newsreel No. 36. The series closes with the return home of writer Anna Seghers to Germany in Newsreel No. 53 (May 1947).

­ Ed.