Gen. Hoth and Gen. Zorn on Eastern Front; mass of Soviet POWs

Gen. Hoth and Gen. Zorn on Eastern Front; mass of Soviet POWs 

Gen. Hoth and Gen. Zorn on Eastern Front; mass of Soviet POWs 

Reel 1: 00:08:42 Officers and soldiers in conversation, smoking. Line of soldiers on motorcycles moving down a dusty road, followed by other military vehicles. An open car stops and two officers climb in. Views of numerous German military vehicles driving down a dusty road. 00:11.23 Mass of Soviet POWs in ravine, bread thrown down to them by Germans and Soviet civilian women. Scores of men scrambling for the bread. CU of Russians' feet, some missing shoes. Fight between German soldiers and Soviet POWs, a German soldier throws a Russian who runs away, camera pans to follow him blending into mass of prisoners. More shots of Russian women throwing bread to large crowd of soldiers below. Vehicles on move; camouflaged tents among shrubs. German soldiers injured, lying in row on ground, visited by officer and aide. Pan of many wounded."Hauptverbandplat" sign with Red Cross. Makeshift graves (Bundesarchiv notes them as"Obergefr. Arthur Wittman - 3./I. R. 7" and"Uffz. Ewald Stein - Kr. Zug I. R. 76 + 30.6.194" - not legible in film). Men in underwear (assumedly German as they salute) speaking with German officers (Zorn?) in the forest. A group of officers (Zorn included) speak and toast. 00:16.42 Military decorations given in the field. Zorn seen with several men as he gives medals. German soldiers and General Zorn stand in front of a group of makeshift graves. 00:18:25 CU grave"Adolf Englisch + 16.7.1941 - 13. I. R. 7", helmet atop cross. Reel 2: 00:18:54 Generals, including Zorn, sit down at table in trees. Band playing. Different views of destroyed abandoned Russian trucks in a field. Russian women carrying poles (?) walking down a hill. Officers conferring in the forest. Soldiers watch as several homes in a village are destroyed by flames. 00:22:13 General Hermann Hoth?, Commander of Panzer Group 3, approaches with hand out, greets Gen. Zorn. Hoth? with officers and shaking hands with line of men. Iron Cross certificate and award bestowed on Zorn - certificate reads,"Vorläufiges Besitzzeugnis. Der Führer und oberste Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht hat dem Generalmajor Zorn, Kdr. 20. Inf. Div. (mot) das Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes am 27. Juli 1941 verliehen. H. Qu. OKH den 28. Juli 1941 der Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres von Brauchitsch" 00:23:11 Men congratulating Zorn, now wearing Iron Cross and spectacles. Soldiers winding the propeller on a plane as an officer climbs aboard. Pan of Russian village with army tents set up next to buildings. More of Hoth, Zorn and many other officers. 00:24:36 Possibly FM von Bock in buttoned up coat, map under arm? IA sign, small tent, wooden building as HQ. 00:25:07 Hoth, Zorn and other looking at map. 00:26:20 Zorn and others standing in small group, wearing coats. German soldiers standing on a street with dead Russian soldiers lying on the ground; German soldiers bandage a wounded soldier. View of soldiers pulling a cart with the wounded. Troops advance, Zorn (now wearing Iron Cross) seen in various shots encouraging men as advance continues, and commanding from under trees. Soldiers riding tanks as they advance. Communications cables and towers. Brief shot of a burning truck in the forest. Reel 3: 00:29:01 Russian peasants (men, women and children) gather outside a house as German soldiers walk around. Soldiers advance down a street. A soldier is bandaged on a scout car. 00:30:15 Mine detection by soldiers prodding ground. CU of a scout car damaged by a mine. Tanks pass burning log dwellings. Soldiers clearing logs from a damaged bridge. Gen. Zorn salutes passing vehicles. Gen. Zorn conferring Iron Cross decoration on soldier in the field. Gen. Zorn and others at conference in the trees. German soldiers on guard in a trench in a forest. Zorn confers with officers in the trench, looking at a map, seated at wooden tables. Decorations for officers. 00:35:45 Looks like FM von Kluge receiving award from Zorn, CU. (He was involved in German military resistance against Hitler.) Pan of destroyed landscape littered with Russian military debris/tanks. 00:36:42 Signs:"Nach Smolens","Nach Witebsk ueber Autobah", military unit symbols. 00:36:55 Signs:"Nach Afonassjewa 4k","Samoschtsch","Nach Szpass-Ugly ueber Lukschew". Soviet women coming down hillside and along road with scythes. CU bottles, box and packaging labeled"Seitz-E". Abandoned Russian tank. Soldiers laying out cloth markings for planes to use to land. 00:38:08 Brief CU Gen. Zorn. Vehicles and tanks on the move, over dusty surfaces. 00:39:24 CU sign,"SLOBOD".