WWII Quiz

sorry, you lost me there :rockin:, but I am sure going to go "Ahhhh! Of Cause!" :bang: once you enlighten us mere mortals :wink:

Rattler

Ok well since my question appears to be more cryptic than I intended it to be I will go ahead and answer it:
1) It was the movie Kolberg shot between 1943 and 1945.

2) Its connection to WW is that it was a Nazi propaganda film instigated by Goebbels at the cost of 8 Million marks making it the most expensive film of its time, it also used regular troops as extras and to ensure they had the numbers they even withdrew units from the front.

3) The premise of the movie is that citizen armies will win out over trained armies and save the day, however this is different from reality as Prussia ended up surrendering to Napoleon with the treat of Tilsit.

Anyway I just figured it would be an interesting question...
Plot

As Prussia was defeated in 1807 and subjected to a harsh peace, in order to deliver a suitable propaganda message, the film begins in 1813 after the period of the Napoleonic Wars known in German as the War of Liberation. The opening scenes show Prussian Landwehr and volunteers marching down the streets of Breslau through enthusiastic crowds. This is followed by a dialogue between the weak King Frederick William III of Prussia and Count August von Gneisenau, where Gneisenau explains that the siege of Kolberg taught the importance of citizen armies (such as Goebbels' Volkssturm). Ending with the admonition that kings who cannot lead must abdicate, the scene switches to Vienna in 1806 to show the abdication of the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II of Austria, whom the script has Gneisenau call "an Emperor who abandoned the German people in their hour of need".
The scene set, the film moves to 1807 and a Kolberg not yet affected by war, where the inhabitants are shown enjoying life, and the town's leaders, Nettelbeck chief among them, discuss Napoleon's proclamations, and what it will mean to them. Some see the French victories as a good thing, some wonder whether to leave. Nettelbeck alone is set on resisting the French. The film continues in this vein, with Nettelbeck struggling against cowardice, lethargy and the old-fashioned ideas of the garrison commander, to defend his city against the approaching French. Nettelbeck creates a citizen militia, in spite of the best efforts of the regular army, has supplies collected, and strongly opposes the idea of surrender.
Finally, having been threatened with execution, and convinced that Kolberg can only be saved if a great leader can be found, Nettelbeck sends Maria on the dangerous journey to Königsberg where the Court of Prussia has retreated to, to meet with the King and with Queen Louise, who was described by Napoleon as "the only man in Prussia". Maria's journey leads to the energetic and charismatic Gneisenau being sent to Kolberg. After an initial confrontation with Nettelbeck, in order show that there is only one leader in Kolberg, and that Gneisenau is that leader, the two work together with the army and the citizens to save the city from the French. After Kolberg is saved, the film returns to 1813 after the Convention of Tauroggen, a time when Napoleon was defeated in Russia, and Prussian leaders wonders whether it is time to turn openly against him. Frederick William is convinced by Gneisenau to do so, and sits down to write proclamation to his people announcing the War of Liberation.

Circumstances

Kolberg, begun in 1943, was made in Agfacolor with high production values. At a cost of more than eight million marks, it was the most expensive film of the Nazi era. At a time of war, thousands of soldiers were used in the film, some diverted from their fighting positions at substantial cost. To film scenes with snow during summer, 100 railway wagons brought salt to the set in Pomerania. The film was finally completed at the Babelsberg Studios at Potsdam while the town and nearby Berlin were being steadily bombed by the Allies. Two extras were killed during the making of the film when an explosive charge went off too early.
The film was opened in a temporary cinema in Berlin and ran under the constant threat of air raids until the fall of Berlin in May 1945; the film came far too late for the hoped-for propaganda effect. Many theatres throughout Germany were already destroyed.
After the war, also the town of Kolberg was ceded to Poland by the Potsdam Agreement, and since then has been known under the Polish name, Kołobrzeg. The German population was expelled to Germany and replaced by ethnic Polish settlers from other territories that Poland lost after the war to the Soviet Union.
The film was re-released in 1965, with an attached documentary, and is now available on digitally remastered DVD.
 
Well in an attempt to spark some life here is a visual starter for 10.

Name this WW2 weapon...

Gun1.jpg
 
Well in an attempt to spark some life here is a visual starter for 10.

Name this WW2 weapon...

Gun1.jpg
Its a Reising Model 50.
Used mostly by the US Marine Corps in WW2, it had either a 12 or 20 round box magazine, and used a retarded blowback system of operation.
 
Its a Reising Model 50.
Used mostly by the US Marine Corps in WW2, it had either a 12 or 20 round box magazine, and used a retarded blowback system of operation.
A failure in combat & quickly relegated to use by State side plant security guards.
 
Which WW2 Prisoner of War smuggled himself INTO Auschwitz

Why did he do this?

Who did he allow to escape from Auschwitz and how?

A remarkable story only just released
 
Well I thought it was quite interesting anyway!

Denis Avey is a remarkable man by any measure. A courageous and determined soldier in World War II, he was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in a camp connected to the Germans' largest concentration camp, Auschwitz.

But his actions while in the camp - which he has never spoken about until now - are truly extraordinary. When millions would have done anything to get out, Mr Avey repeatedly smuggled himself into the camp.

Now 91 and living in Derbyshire, he says he wanted to witness what was going on inside and find out the truth about the gas chambers, so he could tell others

He arranged to swap for one night at a time with a Jewish inmate he had come to trust. He exchanged his uniform for the filthy, stripy garments the man had to wear. For the Auschwitz inmate it meant valuable food and rest in the British camp, while for Denis it was a chance to gather facts on the inside.

He was determined to help, especially when he met Jewish prisoner Ernst Lobethall. Mr Lobethall told him he had a sister Susana who had escaped to England as a child, on the eve of war. Back in his own camp, Mr Avey contacted her via a coded letter to his mother.
He arranged for cigarettes, chocolate and a letter from Susana to be sent to him and smuggled them to his friend. Cigarettes were more valuable than gold in the camp and he hoped he would be able to trade them for favours to ease his plight - and he was right.


Mr Lobethall traded two packs of Players cigarettes in return for getting his shoes resoled. It helped save his life when thousands perished or were murdered on the notorious death marches out of the camps in winter in 1945.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8382457.stm
 
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George, No it wasn't in Florida, somewwhere more remote. Could you be more specific on the location and the purpose?
 
Far more remote than that, not in the US try further north. The station was only found in 1970 by someone researching into it. Obviously the original force didn't stay long!
 
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