us-005578-irn1004400
type: RecordSet
date: 1941 April
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 2
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had subject: 851
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn1004400
scope and content: German troops struggle through the muddy Serbian countryside in vehicles and on foot. A column of troops crossing a bridge. German troops encounter resistance in a town. Sign in Cyrillic on a building. A Slovenian or Croatian soldier (according to the IWM) smiles as he surrenders his weapon to a German. The German dashes it on the ground and breaks it. Destroyed buildings. A soldier posts a sign that reads Kirsch. Germans search civilians, including a man who, the narration says sarcastically, knew nothing about the revolver that he was carrying. Captured Yugoslav soldiers march down the street under German guard. Some of them wave at the camera. German troops on tanks move on toward Belgrade, past destroyed houses. A group of soldiers and civilians run across an open field, waving their arms as they surrender. 01:37:07 Capture of a soldier, described by the narrator as a Jewish officer. A tank moves through the extremely muddy streets. Bundesarchiv notes give the following background information:"At dawn on 6 April Goebbels and Ribbentrop announce the news of Germany's declaration of war on Yugoslavia and Greece. Film shows the rapid advance of German forces attacking from Styria and Bulgaria across mountainous and later sodden terrain and their entry into the"old German town of Marbur" (greeted as liberators by the local Volksdeutsche who take over the security service from the Serbs), Nis (street-fighting after bombing), Uskub/Skopje (destroyed buildings and view of British Vice-Consulate) and Belgrade (aerial view of extensive bomb damage). Italian bombers attack enemy positions. Serbian defenses are overcome after hard fighting and wrecked bridges repaired by pioneer troops. Wet weather creating muddy roads is as great an obstacle as the Yugoslav Army which includes Slovenians and Croatians who welcome the Germans as their liberators from Serbian domination. Isolated scenes show General Weichs, the capture of the Iron Gates, a Serb being searched for weapons, a…
title: German invasion of Yugoslavia