World War I soldiers and families celebrate in Wesel

World War I soldiers and families celebrate in Wesel 

Part Two of FAHRT INS BLAUE with elaborate hand-decorated slates. Continuation of World War I veterans of the 172nd Regiment on a"Journey into Blu". The day-trippers at leisure. Men singing with tour buttons on their lapels. A woman performs a comedy routine. Adults playing on the seesaw. A woman pokes a tree for"the forbidden fruit" then holds the apples for the camera and takes a bite. Jolly adults sit on others' backs; a man passes by with a swastika flag. Johannes Vosskamp (the donor's father) sits at a table, lights a cigarette, and drinks coffee delivered by his wife Margarete Vosskamp (nee Clas, the donor's mother). They hug each other, kiss, and walk away. Two women and one man rest on the grass, smoking. Four men, including Vosskamp, at a table with a white tablecloth. VCUs, harvest-oriented swastika lapel pins. Ends with a title card. 

Edith, Ralph & Peter Liebner donated original 9.5mm films showing early Nazi party gatherings in Germany, including a trip to the annual Nuremberg rally in 1935. Shot by a World War I veteran and early party member, the footage provides an insider’s perspective on the development of the Nazi movement that offers a striking contrast to the official documentation found in German newsreels and propaganda films. 

See Part One of"Fahrt ins Blau" in RG-60.4953 on Film ID 2893. 

No given title. Inside can with Film ID 2895 

Johannes Vosskamp (1896-1945) was a veteran of World War I and so were his brothers. It is unclear when he became a Nazi party member. In World War II, he was drafted at the age of 46 (ca. 1942) as part of"Organisation Tod" behind the lines. He was sent to Serbia and was declared"missing in actio" at the end of the war in 1945.