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Majdanek at liberation; 1944 War Crimes Trial

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 1999.324.1 | RG Number: RG-60.2142 | Film ID: 2268

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    Majdanek at liberation; 1944 War Crimes Trial
    Image

    Overview

    Description
    Majdanek camp after liberation, crematoriums. Polish Red Army with prisoners. The 1944 trial of six Nazi war criminals in charge of Majdanek camp outside Lublin. The trial takes place in Lublin. Charges are read in Polish, with views of defendants as they are named. Defendants speak in German (Polish subtitles). Concentration camp inmates (witnesses) sworn in. Man gives testimony, Jewish woman gives testimony. CUs of accused. Lawyer for the prosecution delivers his remarks. Sentencing to death. Public execution (by hanging) of five Nazis. Men swinging from the gallows' ropes, with a crowd of onlookers.
    Duration
    00:26:37
    Date
    Event:  1944
    Production:  1945
    Locale
    Lublin, Poland
    Majdanek, Poland
    Credit
    Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
    Contributor
    Producer: Film Studio of the Polish Army
    Director: Kazimierz Czynski
    Camera Operator: Forbert brothers
    Camera Operator: Stanislaw Wohl

    Physical Details

    Language
    Polish German
    Genre/Form
    Documentary.
    B&W / Color
    Black & White
    Image Quality
    Poor
    Time Code
    01:12:00:00 to 01:38:37:00
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Master 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Master 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Master 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2268 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
    Copyright
    Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
    Conditions on Use
    For permission to reproduce and use this footage, contact the Film Archives of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum at film.archive@pism.co.uk.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Film Provenance
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased this footage from the Imperial War Museum in London in 1999.
    Note
    The WFDiF version has no Polish subtitles, but USHMM does not have a copy. For more information on the Majdanek trials, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majdanek_trials.

    Swastyka I Szubienica (Swastika and Gallows) was produced by the Film Studio of the Polish Army and was shot by the Forbert brothers and Stanislaw Wohl, directed by Kazimierz Czynski and edited by Wlaclaw Kazmierczak. The film covers public aspects of the trial in Lublin of the former German camp guards rounded up around the city. Beginning on November 30, 1944, the trial lasted three days and the sentences were given on December 2nd. Wishing to sway public opinion, the filmmakers provided extended excerpts of testimony by various witnesses as well as statements by the accused, the chief judge and the prosecuting attorney, all with the intent of portraying Communist justice as being fair and swift. As the bodies of the five German guards are seen swinging in the wind in the final scene, a voice-over announces: “this is not an act of revenge, but a simple act of justice.”
    Copied From
    35mm; b/w
    Film Source
    Imperial War Museums
    File Number
    Legacy Database File: 1673
    Source Archive Number: SIK 1047 R1
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 08:07:54
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1000969

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