This 1957 B&W film by American Relief for Czechoslovakia, Inc. highlights reconstruction and aid efforts post-WWII with narration calling for provision of more support by empathetic Americans.

Title: (0:16). “…. A report to the American people filmed in Czechoslovakia since the Liberation.” Raymond Massey, Alexander Hammid, David Epstein. Prague from hill with flowers (0:40). Crowd on street beats statue of Hitler with sticks (0:52). People wave to passing soldiers (after liberation) (1:00). Soldiers give flowers from military vehicle. Tanks, Czechslovakian flag. People wave flags from windows above street (1:21). Soldiers march in ranks in parade (1:25). Crowds as President Edvard Beneš emerges from car, salutes, pictures, waving (1:30). Woman in traditional costume offers Beneš bread and salt from basket (1:45). More parade scenes. Convertible with Beneš. Beneš arriving to Presidential residence. Flag raised (2:23). Crowd by flagpole (2:30). Crowd in Old Town Square, Prague (2:35). Youth, possibly refugees, behind barbed wire (2:39). People suffering. People run to meet bus with Czech flag (2:45). Family reunions after war (returnees, embraces, people waiting for loved ones) (3:04). Man in gurney (3:40). Children / supplies in baskets handed off train. Toddler near pile of belongings (3:50). Label on container: repatriation to France (“USA”) (3:53). People look out from train. Destruction (WWII) (4:02). Railroads destroyed; railroads being actively torn up by soldiers / machinery (4:05). Overturned train (4:23). Destroyed steel bridge, water running through bridge wreckage (4:27). Gap in train line over river valley (4:30). Rural area (4:38). Closeup of man smoking, thinking; looks at camera. Cows pull till with farmer (4:52). Slovakian homes with thatched roof (5:07). People making roofs / farm labor / weaving. People in line in city with their belongings, coats (5:32). Female aid workers carry piles of donated clothes to crowd; aid beneficiaries pick out clothes. “UNRRA” written in chalk and on grain sacks being brought off train (5:54). People carry food pot to distribution area of free meal service (6:04). Aid workers / nuns serve meals, people eat at long tables outdoors, pan to Baroque palace. Health clinic inside Baroque Palace. Man receives medical bath, doctors conduct quick checkups (6:20). Industrial areas destroyed by war (6:37). Pickaxes, shovels under rubble (7:11). Men at work salvaging, crane (7:20). Bricks being molded by machine (7:35). Men toss bricks in line; bricklaying. American convoy in armed trucks / cars pass in parade, cheering supporters, President Dwight Eisenhower (8:05). Closeup: Czechslovakians in crowd with flowers. Farmers moving hay in field (8:29). Farmer cleans scythe. People harvest hay. Volunteers march through field, including in rank / file (8:55). Reaping, gathering grain (scythes). Farm machinery and U.S. engineers (9:28). Combine in action in field (labeled: “Massey Harris”). Engineers assess broken steel bridge (9:54). Postwar Czechoslovakian political posters (10:00). People march with tools toward / on railroads (10:10). Many people working to fix railroad (10:28). Dynamited locomotive being salvaged (10:38). Men operate machinery at salvage site (10:48). Men cut, prepare timber (11:03). Railroad bridge coming together over river valley (11:25). Installation of railroad (11:45). Steel rails being installed on bridge (12:10). Men carrying railway ties / sleepers, placement of ties, nailing in (12:20). Men carry forward rails onto bridge. Work in teams to finalize railroad. Engineer looks through scope for positioning. Locomotive on new track passing over bridge (12:43). People watch to see if bridge will hold (13:03). View from bridge of moving train (success) (13:30). Other trains. Children running in yard near forest (school grounds) (13:45). Children in outdoor P.E. class (13:55). Young children (nude) run into water at beach with teachers (14:06). Children eating (14:13). Children in class, girl painting (13:25). X-rays of lungs (14:37). Doctor examines x-rays. Children looking at camera (14:47). Doctors tending to tuberculosis (TB) / malnutrition child patients. Medical train (UNRRA) (15:10). Young girl cries. Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk with U.S. Ambassador Lawrence Steinhart (15:35). Steinhart speaks to camera. Children joyous at Christmas party: trees, decorations, smiling, toys, Red Cross dinner table, gifts (16:07). Children in dormitory. Girls tuck dolls into bed, boy jumping on bed (17:10). The End.

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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com