German troops and parade in Pancevo's town square
Colonel Stockhausen reviews troops while a military band plays in a town square in Pancevo. Local civilians watch the parade and a Roma/Sinti band plays. Smiling German soldiers eat and drink at an outdoor café; German officers ride horses; soldiers and officers take a boat ride and drink beer on the Danube.
This film documents the action carried out by the Grossdeutschland regiment in reprisal for the killing of four German soldiers by unidentified snipers on April 18, 1941. Altogether 22 Serbian civilians were hanged in the Pancevo city cemetery, while 18 more were publicly shot against the cemetery wall by troops with the regiment. The film is accompanied by Gottfried Kessel's commentary. Kessel was a Propaganda Kompanie (PK) cameraman attached to the Grossdeutschland regiment of the German army.