The movie depicts the Bolshevist rule over Latvia with documentary footage and a propagandistic commentary. The narrator reads the Soviet ultimatum towards Latvia of October 2, 1939 and mentions the occupation of Latvia by Soviet troops on June 17, 1940 as an 'assault against Europe.' The puppet government under Kirchenstein is said to have betrayed the Latvians to the Soviet Union. Pictures of the alleged"Zuchthauselit" [prison elite] with high positions in the new government and administration are shown. Soviet rule is associated with propaganda, censorship, collectivization, deportation, and terror. The officials perpetrating these crimes are said to be 'all Jews.' Pictures of the GPU central prison and of massacre sites in Baltezers and Dreilini are shown. After the occupation of Latvia by German troops, corpses are exhumed and the total loss of life in the 'year of horror' is estimated at 50,000 people. The German 'liberators' are welcomed in Riga while marching down the Basteja Bulvaris; German military boots are shown marching over a fur hat with the Red Star. Latvian 'volunteers' joining the"Pasaizsardzib" [Latvian military force collaborating with Nazi Germany] are shown. The Freedom Memorial in Riga is decorated. Finally the narrator vows to build a 'new Europe' free of Bolshevist terror. The title of the movie is taken from a Latvian poem recited at the beginning of the film that predicts the Soviet reign of terror over Latvia.
Language: German with Swedish subtitles The film passed censorship on December 30, 1944. A Latvian version is available in the State archive Riga. See also the beginning scenes of Story 3702, Film ID 2626 for duplicate images from this film.
Nazi propaganda: anti-Soviet