March 14, 1938 -- One Afternoon

It is March 14, 1938. Somewhere in what is probably Austria, army vehicles pass along village streets. The camera is positioned at the side of the road. Adolf Hitler speeds past, standing in an open car making his familiar hand gesture. Friends or family members arrive at someone's house. As the closing credits explain, this footage was shot by an unknown amateur filmmaker and found at a flea market. Did the filmmaker throw away the film shortly after the war, or did he lose it? Although it may seem strange that film recordings of Hitler should land in the garbage, what is most remarkable about this material is the almost summery, everyday scenes that fill the remaining footage. Two days before the film was shot, announcement had been made of the , the annexation of Austria into Greater Germany. And just one day before, German troops entered Austria. Most probably it is this, Hitler's arrival in Austria, that we see in the film. But the cameraman is more interested in a shy young woman and her chain-smoking mother. Plants are watered, drinks are drunk, and toasts are made. Toasts to Hitler? Certainly not. To a lovely family occasion. And so the film shows us an aspect of the Second World War that we rarely get the chance to see.