Made for the home market in Germany during WWII, this silent newsreel shows the Caucus front and in particular the ascent of Mt. Elbrus on the border of Southern Russia and Georgia. The film starts with a situational map before showing Axis allied troops in the forests with both horses and camels. At 1:30 mountain troops move up into the snow line. At 2:40 parts of a large artillery piece are assembled and the piece is then readied. At 3:00 mountain troops advance high up Elbrus. At 4:00 a machine gun is fired and at 4:19 the artillery piece exercised. It’s unclear if there are any targets. At 4:52 troops trek higher up the frozen mountain. A flag is planted at 5:28.
During the Battle of the Caucasus in World War II, the Wehrmacht occupied the area surrounding the mountain from August 1942 to February 1943 with Gebirgsjäger from the 1st Mountain Division. The Nazi Swatstika was placed on the summit of Mount Elbrus on 21 August 1942. A possibly apocryphal story tells of a Soviet pilot being given a medal for bombing the main mountaineering hut, Priyut 11 (“Refuge of the 11”), while it was occupied. He was then later nominated for a medal for not hitting the hut, but instead the German fuel supply, leaving the hut standing for future generations. When news reached Adolf Hitler that a detachment of mountaineers was sent by the general officer commanding the German division to climb to the summit of Elbrus and plant the swastika flag at its top, he reportedly flew into a rage, called the achievement a “stunt” and threatened to court martial the general.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
