Propaganda films made of the rallies
“Despite all efforts, the perfect rally remained a figment of elaborately staged propaganda and generally ignored the actual sequence of events.
The sophisticated imagery was not a documentation of real events but implanted selective memories.”
A film showing Hitler and General Ludendorff at the "German Day" rally in September 1923 held in Nuremberg.
The film is available to view on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum website......click the image to open in a new window
In 1927 a film was made called........ Eine Symphonie der Kampfwillens - A Symphony of the Will to Fight.
This video is (at the time of writing) available from the DailyMotion website.
Click the title image above to visit their website........video opens in a new window.
For the 1929 rally Baldur von Schirach produced a record of the events but the film is very much in need of editing.
However it does show many behind the scenes activities that were rarely photographed.
A section of the film is available on the Daily Motion website.......click the image to view in a new window.
In 1933 another film was made, directed by Leni Riefenstahl who later disowned the film...........Der Sieg des Glaubens - The Victory of Faith.
This film shows several instances where Hitler and Röhm appear on friendly terms.
After the "Night of the Long Knives", when Röhm was murdered, this film was banned.
Most copies were destroyed but one low resolution and one incomplete standard resolution copies survived.
The video is embedded from YouTube where the image quality has been enhanced.
In 1934, Leni Riefenstahl produced........Triumph des Willens - Triumph of the Will.
She used many innovative techniques to create a masterpiece of propaganda.
Once again, AI technology has been used to colour and enhance the film.
Although Triumph of the Will was very well received by most viewers, the German Army felt that they were not sufficiently represented with too much attention paid to SA events. A follow-up film was made by Leni Riefenstahl called......Tag der Freiheit (Unsere Wehrmacht) - Day of Freedom (Our Army).
The first few seconds are a black screen and the film proper begins after the trumpet introduction
A final film was made as a compilation of the 1936 & 1937 Rallies.......Festliches Nürnberg - Festive Nuremberg.
No copies were thought to exist but one incomplete copy was discovered in 1970.
It is very similar to the other films but the last few seconds shows the only film recording of the 'Cathedral of Light' at the Zeppelin Field.
"Schichlegruber Doing The Lambeth Walk" was created in 1941 by Charles A. Ridley of the UK Ministry of Information.
It consists of edited footage taken from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will to make it appear as if the Nazis were dancing to the dance style, "The Lambeth Walk".
The tune was chosen as Nazi officials labelled it, "Jewish mischief" and "animalistic hopping".
It is reported that Nazi Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels, was so offended by this film that he left the viewing room kicking chairs and screaming profanities.
The director, according to legend, was put on a Gestapo "hit-list" if the UK was every occupied.
Leslie Winik, whose name appears in the credits, was responsible for the film's distribution in the USA.