German occupation of Latvia; working for the German war economy
Title supplied by Bundesarchiv. The beginning scenes contain images from"Roter Nebe" "Den Roeda Dimma" or"Red Mis"] predicting the Soviet reign of terror over Latvia. See Story 3699, Film ID 2623.
The narrator, uncomfortably shot from below and against images of ruins and corpses, recites excerpts from the Soviet constitution in Russian. Switching to Latvian, the narrator describes how Latvians welcome the Germans after years of Soviet terror. The German 'liberators' are cheered in Riga while marching down the Basteja Bulvaris; German military boots are shown marching over a fur hat with the Red Star. Latvian volunteers are sworn in at the Freedom Memorial in Riga in the presence of Reichskommissar Ostland [Reich commissar for the Baltic territories and Belorussia] Hinrich Lohse. Afterwards the work in the German war economy is advertised to Baltic people for its excellent working and living conditions, illustrated by pictures of agriculture and industry. The symbol of"Deutsche Arbeitsfron" [German labor front] is prominently pictured. Barracks, rest rooms, a cafeteria, a grocery store, a post office, and a medical ward are shown. Music and folk dances are shown as evening entertainment. Most of the people depicted working in the German factories are women. The inscriptions at the camp, the newspapers, and the dances seem to be in Lithuanian, not Latvian.