Footnote:
Reproduction of последние письмо USSR, 1965
Description:
A film recounting letters sent from German soldiers on the Stalingrad Front. [WARNING: contains scenes of distressed and dead people, including badly treated corpses and severely injured individuals.]
These were originally intended to be used by the Nazi leadership as a propaganda tool, but they had to be suppressed because of their 'lack of morale'. They contrasted conditions suffered at the Front with the comparatively easy life at home. The film also warns of the rise of militarism in contemporary West Germany. The documentary uses clips from the captured documents narrated over archive footage of the battle of Stalingrad and its aftermath. There is also film of Nazi rallies and the Nazi youth, and other scenes from home. The juxtaposition of the joyous images of Nazi Germany, with the horrors of Stalingrad, and the hopeless despair of the soldiers' words, creates a powerful film