World War II

I took Labor Day off from blogging, but World War II followed me. during supper we were watching Antiques Roadshow and just left PBS on since History Detectives was next. And what was one of the segments about? Hitler’s home movies. (Click here for the description on the show’s website.)

The material being investigated comprised cannisters of film brought home from Germany by a soldier who served during the occupation. The interesting thing is that neither he nor his family had ever opened the cans or tried to see the movies. One of the movies was footage of Hitler and his chief henchmen (Goebbels, Goering, Himmler, et al) at the annual Richard Wagner festival in Bayreuth.

With reasonable accuracy, the conclusion was that the previously unseen footage was shot by Hitler’s chef Willy Kannenberg. I haven’t been able to find out much more about the man, but as a member of Hitler’s inner circle he had relatively free access to the Fuhrer and was able to shoot the candid moments unfettered. Fortunately the film has now been digitized as the original, like most films of that period, is in serious danger of simply disintegrating.

The story does make me wonder how many more hidden gems of World War II history are languishing forgotten in attics and basements around the country. In this case, the man who recovered the cannisters was still alive to be interviewed, but in all too many instances the item survives the person who can tell the tale. I know I beat this drum, but I’m beating it again. If you know an aging WWII vet, get the stories now before they become mysteries even the History Detectives can’t solve.

WWII, Hitler, Wagner, Bayreuth, Kannenberg