The Descheg Monthly Newsreel was a propaganda newsreel produced in Germany during WWII, from January 1942 to April 1944.
Like all German wartime newsreels, it was not a neutral news source, but a tool of Nazi propaganda, intended to show Nazi Germany in a good light, not mentioning war crimes done by German forces and painting a positive image of the war.
Descheg is an acronym, standing for “Deutsche Schmalfilm-Vertrieb GmbH" (German Cine Film Distribution Company), a subsidiary of the Ufa company.
There is little information available about these newsreels, it is unknown why they were produced and to whom they were broadcasted.
From the fact that many cultural and sport events all throughout Europe are shown, and little actual footage from the war, it seems likely that these newsreels were intended for a foreign audience in Europe, possibly even in neutral countries.
This is issue No. 26 from April 1944, the last issue ever produced.
It shows, as previously said, a lot of non-combat related events, such as a memorial service in Sweden to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of King Charles the 14th, footage from a Belgian gymnastics school, a children’s opera in Prague, or the final of the 1944 French Rugby Championship, among other scenes.
A small section at the end shows some combat footage from Monte Cassino in Italy and the Siege of Kovel on the Eastern Front.
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Subtitles made by me.
