Director: Michael Kloft
Photography: Dieter Herfurth, Andreas Klein
Editor: Monika Finneisen
Producer: Bernd Jacobs
Production: Spiegel TV
Distribution: Spiegel TV
Tel: +49 40 30108 259
Fax: +49 40 30108 222
Selected Filmography Michael Kloft: Welche Farbe hat der Krieg - Deutschland 1945, 1996; Tatort DDR - Manfred Krug: Abgehauen, 1996; Schuld und Shne des Albert Speer, 1996; Hitlers Hehler - Die Schweizer Banken und das Nazigold, 1997.
In March 1935, a certain Mr. Hadamowsky, Broadcasting Director of the German Reich, put "Großdeutsche Fernsehen" on the air, and there it stayed right up until September 1944. Recently, long-lost footage actually aired by the station during this period has been rediscovered in the files of the State Film Archive of the former East Germany. Until now, visual access to the 3rd Reich has been gained mostly through weekly newsreels and propaganda films produced by the likes of Leni Riefenstahl. This new file footage, shown here for the first time, is more reminiscent of the picture quality common in the 50ies. The images thus appear more familiar to us, though they still convey a certain sense of gloom. It might seem confusing to us today that all the players seem almost deliriously happy. People dance and sing, chat and cook, ... the lotto numbers are drawn. And yet the viewers are always greeted with a curt "Heil Hitler".