The German Newsweek (Die Deutsche Wochenschau) was the unified newsreel of Germany from 1940-1945. The concept of a weekly newsreel was much older, dating back to WWI, and in the 1930s, there were several different weekly newsreels in Germany. With the outbreak of WWII, these were unified and from June 1940 shown under the title of "The German Newsweek". It was one of the most important aspects of German propaganda.
Each week, over 2000 copies were sent to theaters and movie houses throughout Germany and shown to the general public, as private TV ownership was extremly rare during WWII. Over 700 episodes were produced, and many of the historical WWII footage we nowadays have comes from the Wochenschau.
This is issue No. 751 from February 10th, 1945.
It shows German soldiers returning to Germany from a prisoner exchange, combat footage from all fronts, German refugees fleeing the eastern parts of Germany from the advancing Soviets, transport planes and gliders dropping supplies, footage from Budapest and a German offensive (Operation Konrad III) against Soviet forces near Lake Balaton.
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Subtitles made by me.
