us-005578-irn1002610
type: RecordSet
has beginning date: 1939-01-01
has end date: 1939-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 2
has or had some members with language: rus
has or had subject: 851
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn1002610
note: Many of these prisoners were set free; others, numbering in the tens of thousands, were detained and interrogated by the NKVD. Some were set free, while others, and in particular, Polish officers, were executed in the series of massacres which included Katyn. The Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland lasted from November 30, 1939 until March 13, 1940. It is not clear exactly when this footage dates from, but the Soviet Union did acquire some Finnish territory, and was leased the Hanko peninsula, located just west of Helsinki, which was used as a military base and port. It could be that these repairs were being made in the newly-acquired Finnish territory following the Winter War, or that the Polish ships were being repaired for use during the war, directly following the annexation of Poland.
scope and content: VS, group of young men and women performing traditional folk songs and dances for a large crowd, presumably gathered for a folk festival. Shots alternate between shots of the performers and shots of the crowd cheering. During the dance performance, a man announces"Jewish cradle son" (lullaby). VS, Red Army, marching along roads, reclining and socializing in the sun. City, large crowds of civilians, lined up in front of government buidling. Men, women and children in the crowds. CUs of weapons- rifles, grenades, etc. Soldiers aiming a cannon. VS of military machinery that had been destroyed or dismantled. Wokers building new tanks out of the old scraps, VS. Countryside, soldiers building a fence. Military officers in the city [repeat of some footage from Story 3117, Film ID 2487]. Officers salute each other, speak to each other and then get into a vehicle and drive away. VS, of the officers plotting their course with maps, posing in the grass fields along a river bank. According to Russian narration, the soldiers marching along roads are Polish military prisoners who resisted the Red Army in its"gloriou" liberation of the Western territories of Ukraine and Belarus. The uniform these soldiers are wearing confirms that these are Polish soldiers. Intertitle:"The Red Army has honestly fulfilled its liberating mission" The Polish army is destroyed. Its divisions and regiments surrendered to our army. Narration begins: Prisoners: These are the former soldiers of the former Polish army. (See Notes field) Comrade soldiers, you will be set free; and each one of you will go home, return to your work and do your business on the land, in the plants and factories, at every place where the work needs to be done by honest and good people. Tell all, that together the Red Army and the Soviet Union bring freedom to all the workers of Western Ukraine and Western Byelorussia. Here are more prisoners. Polish officers. Look at these soldiers! Boasters! Once the Red Army approached they ra…
title: Prewar folk festival; wartime scenes, soldiers