WESTWALL / SIEGFRIED LINE PRE-WWII GERMAN ARMY / BORDER GUARD ORIENTATION FILM XD82435

Disclaimer: This historic German film was produced during WWII as propaganda in support of the National Socialist regime. It is presented in its original form as an historical document so that students, educators, researchers and the general public can see how the Nazi regime justified its criminal activities. The political symbols of the regime, including the flag, swastika and eagle, may appear on screen. Periscope Film absolutely condemns the Nazi regime and affirms that it committed grave atrocities, war crimes, and crimes against humanity before and during WWII. These include the tragic, mass extermination of millions of innocent civilians. We preserve these films in part so that these terrible events and victims are not forgotten. “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.“ -- Winston Churchill This silent German Army film was one of a series created for troops who were to be stationed on the Westwall or Siegfried Line. It appears to predate WWII as the film shows French Army positions straddling the border. The film indicates that it was created to show border outposts and FKF regiments (we’re not clear what FKF stands for, possibly border troops although that unit was called the Zollgrenzschutz (ZGS)). At (:32) a soldier in a concealed position with binoculars monitors the border area. At (:47) a title refers to the Mundat Forest, one of two forests that overlie the border between Germany and France near Wissembourg, Alsace. At (1:40) the border guards resume their surveillance of the area from a concealed position. There is also a title for Lautergrund, it’s not clear what the meaning of this title is. At (2:41) a map shows German Army positions along the border, with a title card indicating “enemy observation“. At (4:06) the dividing line between Germany and France is seen, as well as border guards armed with a machine gun. French defensive positions are shown and what appears to be a farmhouse under observation (5:29). At (6:40) the alarm sounds and German troops race into defensive positions through a network of deep trenches. At (7:51) a log laced with barbed wire is dropped into a trench to seal it against a French attack. At (8:44) a German machine gun crew takes up a position below the tree line. At (10:02) a platoon of Wehrmacht soldiers emplaces in the trenches. The film ends with shots of soldiers moving through what appears to be a no-man’s land between the French and German positions, with abandoned houses and other buildings. End of Reel 1. The Siegfried Line, known in German as the Westwall (= western bulwark), was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than 630 km (390 mi) from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of Nazi Germany, to the town of Weil am Rhein on the border with Switzerland. The line eventually featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. That being said, the Line at the start of WWII had serious weaknesses. Despite France’s declaration of war on Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, there was no major combat at the Siegfried Line at the start of the campaign in the west, except for a minor offensive by the French. Instead, both sides remained stuck in the so-called Phoney War, where neither side attacked the other and both stayed in their safe positions. With the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, war in the west broke out once more. Hitler gave a directive for renewed construction on the Siegfried Line using 20,000 forced laborers and members of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service). From September 1944 to March 1945, the Siegfried Line was subjected to a large-scale Allied offensive. The overall cost of the Siegfried Line Campaign, in U.S. Army personnel, was close to 140,000; German losses are unknown. By early 1945 the last Siegfried Line bunkers had fallen at the Saar and Hunsrück. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ 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 and 2k. For more information visit