SOVIET FILM WWII LIBERATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA PRAGUE, KOSICE, BRATISLAVA MAY, 1945 54904

This is a Soviet educational / propaganda movie used for the history lessons in the 10th Grade, and one of a series showing the liberation of various Eastern European countries from the Wehrmacht by the Red Army. This one is movie No. 16 in the series, “Liberation of Czechoslovakia“. It depicts the Czechoslovak uprising against the German invasion of 1944, with the scenes from the major cities and major battles – Kosice, Bratislava, Banská Bystrica, the battle at Dukla Pass, culminating with the May 9, 1945 breaking of the entrenched German defense at Prague. The movie shows the two commanders of the opposing forces – Gen. Malinovsky for the Red Army and Obergruppenfuhrer Berger for the Wehrmacht. The documentary was produced by Schkola Film for the Ministry of Education of the USSR, directed by Svetlana Zagoskina and L. Fayn-Girsh, scenario by I. Popova, historical consultats: L. Starikov . 0:47 Summer of 1944, Troops and armored columns moving through the countryside 0:47 Plague Column in Kosice, Slovakia 0:50 Bratislava :56 Czech flag being unfurled in the city hall of Banská Bystrica, Slovakia as a revolt begins 1:01 a flyer of the underground Slovakian national assembly, calling for a national resistance movement 1:09 Czeshoslovak National assembly soldiers arming themselves and being cheered by the passerby Narrator  1:20 Soldiers marching through a hilly terrain 1:28- Footage of various underground resistance and national armies – French, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Bulgarian and others, firing weapons – 1:35 bolt-action rifles 1:29 anti-tank rifles 1:40 PPSh machine gun. 1:48 Obergruppenfuhrer Gottlob Berger, commander of the SS expeditionary forces in Slovakia, tasked with suppressing the uprising 1:50 an SS platoon riding a tracked transport with a 37-mm field gun in tow 1:57 Sd. Kfz. 10 towing an artillery piece, a Pz. IV tank or a StUG 3 self-propelled artillery to suppress the liberation movement.  2:14 Hummel self-proppelled autocannon and StuG self-propelled artillery firing 2:29 Soviet senior officers examining a map and the landscape. Probably Gen. Rodion Malinovsky, as he was charged with the Czechoslovakian operation 2:32 Tank having difficulty running uphill. 2:40-2:55 Soldiers hauling artillery pieces and hand-carrying artillery shells up the hill. Trucks in the mud. 3:00 Artillery firing, a medic bandaging a person’s head at 3:02 , more fighting in a hilly terrain. 3:10 bandaging burned hands of a soldier 3:12 Self-propelled artillery 3:21 Civilians waving their hands and flags at the Slovakian soldiers triumphantly riding a tank with “ Kapitan Ofarkar Jaros “ written on it (3:24) after the crucial battle at the Dukla Pass. 3:30 Il-2 ground attack planes, Katyusha rocket mortars firing at 3:32, divisional 75-mm artillery pieces firing 3:35. 3:44 Tanks advancing 3:45 GAZ-AA towing a regimental gun driving past the Assumption of Virgin Mary (Blumental) Church as Bratislava is liberated. 3:50 People cheering, man offering a teacup to a soldiers in the back of the truck 3:52. Narrator «  Nazis were routed from Brno, the industrial heart of Czech republic 3:57 Workers in hard hats raising the Czech flag. 4:10 Pe-2 dive bombers 4:12 Prague, the capital, is still in the hands of the enemy  4:16 Parked Mercedes-Benz staff car and the German guard convoy 4:21 German bicycle troops. 4:30 People burning portraits of Hitler, Nazi flags and other Nazi effigies as the Prague uprising starts on the 5th of May 4:43 Armed resistance fighters. 4:55 Dead bodies in the street. 5:03 people hurriedly tending to an injured person and hauling them off. 5:07 Barricades near the center of Prague 5:19 A banner reads “Lidće Osvenčin , Malthausen, Bregoska “ ( Free Auschwitz, Malthausen, Bregoska ) (concentration camps) 5:22 German infantry try to suppress the uprising  5:33 BMW light cars and Pz. I. light tanks 5:44 Resistance fighters firing upon German troops in a damaged/stopped Sd. Kfz. 10. 5:48 Man, firing a Thomson or a PPSh machinegun. 5:50 StuG self-propelled artillery firing 5:54 7th of May. Dead bodies and burning buildings as the situation of the resistance becomes dire, they have sent out a call for help  6:04 General Zhukov with other generals, plan a relief attack. 6:11 A column of T34 tanks. Narrator: “At dawn of 9th may the Soviet tankers broke into Prague.“ The city is liberated. 6:23 Victory parade – tanks, infantry with a Czechoslovakian National Uprising flag. Narrator: “Thus, our slogan was born – with the Soviet Union, forever, with the Soviet Union and nobody else.“ 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