Forced confrontation, cinema

Film | Accession Number: 1995.146.1 | RG Number: RG-60.2607 | Film ID: 1001 Film | Accession Number: 1995.146.1 | RG Number: RG-60.2607 | Film ID: 1001

LS of town road filled with people walking down towards the camera, buildings on frame right. Various shots of inhabitants of Burgsteinfurt (Germany) in the streets being ordered, assembled, and directed by troops, standing in lines, walking orderly, entering cinema. Sign above cinema entrance reads "Belsen & Buchenwald." People being directed as they exit cinema. CUs facial as civilians exit.



NOTE: Burgsteinfurt was called the "village of hate" in the B.L.A. magazine, "The Soldier," because of its silent but noticeable resentment of the British occupation. The military government began the screening of a documentary on the concentration camps on May 29. When few residents came voluntarily to view the film, the British military authorities ordered all 4,000 townsmen to attend showings. They were assembled and marched to the cinema, led by the Mayor and Captain A. Stirling, the District Assistant Provost Marshal.

