Tanks of Fury

The Liberation of Auschwitz

August 1986 •German

This chilling, vitally important documentary was produced to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The film contains unedited, previously unavailable film footage of Auschwitz shot by the Soviet military forces between January 27 and February 28, 1945 and includes an interview with Alexander Voronsov, the cameraman who shot the footage. The horrifying images include: survivors; camp visit by Soviet investigation commission; criminal experiments; forced laborers; evacuation of ill and weak prisoners with the aid of Russian and Polish volunteers; aerial photos of the IG Farben Works in Monowitz; and pictures of local people cleaning up the camp under Soviet supervision. - Written by National Center for Jewish Film

Night and Fog

April 1959 •French

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

The Great Escape

March 2017 •French

On March 24, 1944, in the heart of Nazi Germany, 76 British, Canadian, Norwegian and French pilots who were held in Stalag Luft III, a prison camp of the Luftwaffe, escaped. Unique testimony from the last survivors, recreations and today’s digital images sheds new light on the audacious escape.

Hitler's Forgotten Victims

October 1997 •English

The story of black and mixed race people in Nazi Germany who were sterilised, experimented upon, tortured and exterminated in the Nazi concentration camps. It also explores the history of German racism and examines the treatment of Black prisoners-of-war. The film uses interviews with survivors and their families as well as archival material to document the Black German Holocaust experience.

Hitler's Hollywood

February 2017 •German

Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1933, when the Nazis came into power, until 1945, when the Third Reich collapsed. (A sequel to From Caligari to Hitler, 2015.)

Enchanted

June 1993 •German

Stories of 12 gay and lesbian survivors of Nazism and the Holocaust.

John Ford Goes to War

January 2002 •English

When World War II broke out, John Ford, in his forties, commissioned in the Naval Reserve, was put in charge of the Field Photographic Unit by Bill Donavan, director of the soon-to-be-OSS. During the war, Field Photo made at least 87 documentaries, many with Ford's signature attention to heroism and loss, and many from the point of view of the fighting soldier and sailor. Talking heads discuss Ford's life and personality, the ways that the war gave him fulfillment, and the ways that his war films embodied the same values and conflicts that his Hollywood films did. Among the films profiled are "Battle of Midway," "Torpedo Squadron," "Sexual Hygiene," and "December 7."

Soldier

February 2017 •Spanish

A young man decides to join the army. He becomes the drummer in the military band, and his everyday life is now a combination of military training and music. What does the Argentine Army do these days, more than thirty years after the dictatorship? What does it mean to be a soldier in a country without wars?

Partizani

December 2015 •Italian

Nikšić, Montenegro, September the 9th, 1943. Few moments after the dawn, the artilleryman Sante Pelosin, nickname Tarcisio, fires the first cannon shot against a German column that was proceeding towards Italian placement. In the following weeks about 20000 Italian soldiers decide to not surrender and join Jugoslavian Resistance. The partisans of the Garibaldi Division narrated in this documentary are simple heroes, that fought the freeze, the hunger, and a crushing typhus fever epidemy, paying with tremoundous sufferings a valiant and aware choice of field .

Attack! The Battle for New Britain

June 1944 •English

Actual footage by the United States Signal Corps of the landing and attack on Arawe Beach, Cape Glouster, New Britain island in 1943 in the South Pacific theatre of World War Two, and the handicaps of the wild jungle in addition to the Japanese snipers and pill-box emplacements.

Safeguarding Military Information

January 1942 •English

World War II propaganda short which focuses on the dangers of inadvertent dispersal of military information.

A Return to Memory

October 2024 •English

When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to create Canadian cinema as we now know it.

De Bevrijding van Den Haag

January 2010 •Dutch

Triumph Over Prejudice: The Montford Point Marines

December 2023 •English

Against the backdrop of a world on the brink, the Montford Point Marines transcended enemy lines and formidable barriers of racial segregation. Beginning in rural Virginia, their journey to the front lines of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War is more than a testament to their bravery - it's a reflection of their indomitable spirit and unyielding resolve. Confronting racial prejudices, the heartbreaks of war, and the turbulent transition to civilian life, these men never wavered in their commitment. "Triumph Over Prejudice" dives deep into the uncharted terrains of the Black experience in the early 20th century Marine Corps, illuminating stories often shadowed in history's corners. With cinematic finesse fit for a global streaming audience, the film weaves personal narratives into a rich tapestry, culminating in an epic saga of heroism, perseverance, and the enduring legacy of the American veteran.

Mein Kampf

April 1960 •Swedish

"Mein Kampf" presents the raising and fall of the Third Reich, showing mainly the destruction of Poland and the life Hitler, which is told since he was a mediocre student and frustrated aspirant of artist living in slums in Austria and Germany, until his suicide in 1945 after being the responsible for the death of million of people, and the destruction of Europe. All the footage is real and belonged to a secret file of Goebbels, inclusive with many very strong scenes filmed by Goebbels himself.

The Last Days

October 1998 •English

Five Jewish Hungarians, now US citizens, tell their stories: before March 1944, when Nazis began to exterminate Hungarian Jews, months in concentration camps, and visiting childhood homes more than 50 years later. An historian, a Sonderkommando, a doctor who experimented on Auschwitz prisoners, and US soldiers who were part of the liberation in April 1945.

Peter Eisenman: Building Germany's Holocaust Memorial

February 2009 •English

This documentary explores the creation of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as designed by architect Peter Eisenman. Reaction of the German public to the completed memorial is also shown.

Night Bombers

January 1981 •English

Recorded during World War II, this rare color film traces an RAF Bomber Command night attack on Berlin -- from strategic planning and preparation to the execution of the actual attack with Avro Lancaster bombers. Air Commodore H.I. Cozens filmed the events during a period when the Bomber Command flew into Germany nearly every night for a massive series of raids on key targets.

1944: Should We Bomb Auschwitz?

September 2019 •Italian

In 1944, two prisoners miraculously escaped from Auschwitz. They told the world of the horror of the Holocaust and raised one of the greatest moral questions of the 20th century.

Fascism in Colour

January 2006 •English

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)