Federal elections were held in Germany on March 5, 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on January 30th and just six days after the Reichstag fire shown in Reel 2 of “Germany Awake!” The Nazi party won roughly 44% of the parliament but soon managed to achieve full control of the government and Germany became effectively a one-party state. The third reel of “Germany Awake!” shows the aftermath of the election. It begins with a shot of a torchlight procession under the Brandenburg Gate. At 1:09, marchers throw their torches into a bonfire pile. The card at 1:16 proclaims the election on March 5 of the new national diet or legislature, followed by a special meeting on March 21st at the Potsdam cathedral. This is the so-called Potsdam Day, or Tag von Potsdam aka Potsdam Celebration, to celebrate the re-opening of the Reichstag after the fire. The festivities began with religious services (not attended by Hitler, who instead visited the graves of various martyrs to the Nazi cause including Horst Wessel). At 1:30 a sign states “We are building a new Germany.” At 2:00 an elderly von Hindenburg is seen emerging from the Peter and Paul church. Crowds are held back by police. At 2:30 the card indicates “On that day the Fuhrer visited the graves of the fallen comrades.” The banner at 2:55 says “My dear friends – Adolf Hitler”. At 3:25, Hitler is seen with Hindenburg, visiting the coffins in a church. At 4:53, possibly another scene in Potsdam, apparently an opera house used for speeches that day (or, possibly the Berlin State Opera house which hosted a performance of a Richard Wagner opera the evening of Potsdam Day). Herman Goring is seen briefly in the film at 8:39. At 9:13, a victory parade in Berlin and “field service” — an open air Catholic mass celebrated at 11:04.

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