Segment from Československý zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czechoslovak Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942, issue no. 17, captures the presentation of a gift Ï Ambulance Train no. 751 Ï from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to Adolf Hitler and the German army. The train handover took place at Prague Main Railway Station on 20 April 1942, the birthday of Adolf Hitler. Cars arrive in front of Prague Main Railway Station. Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich enters the train station. State President Emil Hácha gives a speech in the festively decorated railway hall. In response, Heydrich shakes his hand. The event is witnessed by a delegation of railway workers. The train crew lines up on the station platform. Heydrich enters the train with his entourage and inspects the sleeping cars, the operating carriage, the kitchen, and the sick bay. The inspection of the ambulance train is attended by Protectorate Prime Minister Jaroslav Krejčí and Minister of Education and People´s Enlightenment Emanuel Moravec. According to the voiceover, the train was made in a railway workshop in Prague-Bubny in record time. It consisted of 28 carriages and 20 hospital carriages, was 410 metres long, weighed 545 tons and had capacity for 280 wounded.
Segment of the Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942 No. 41 captures the funeral of Alexandr Commichau, head of the Reich Labour Service, held on 5 October 1942 in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle, decorated with Nazi emblems for the occassion. The deceased´s military honours are on display next to a bier with the coffin. Mourners include the widow, a little girl and State Secretary Hermann Frank. Acting Reich Protector Kurt Daluege lays down a wreath from Adolf Hitler. The funeral speech is delivered by Deputy Chief General of RAD Wilhelm Decker (silent). The procession with the coffin, which will be transported to a crematorium in Prague, moves through the Matthias Gate.
Segment from Československý zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czechoslovak Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942, issue no. 12, captures the Memorial Day of Heroes events held as part of the celebration of the 3rd anniversary of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia at the German Opera in Prague on 15 March 1942. The gathering was to commemorate the alleged affiliation of the Czech Crown lands to the German Empire. In his speech, Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich highlights the political significance of 15 March (silent). The event is attended by Reich Secretary Karl Hermann Frank, Reich Commissioner for the Sudetenland Konrad Henlein, Reich Gauleiter Hugo Jury, and the chief of the Wehrmacht troops in Prague, General Rudolf Toussaint.
Segment from Czechoslovak Aktualita Sound Newsreel 1942, issue no. 24, captures the memorial ceremony for Acting Reich Protector Heydrich held in Prague on 7Ï8 June. The camera follows a night-time funeral procession across Charles Bridge. SS officers carry the coffin draped in the Nazi flag. The procession is illuminated with burning torches. The following footage shows a bier with Heydrich´s coffin in the first quadrangle of Prague Castle. The surroundings are decorated with eternal flames, Nazi flags and SS flags. A view of Heydrich´s military decorations and the guard of honour, made up of SS soldiers. The ceremony at Prague Castle continues with a speech by the newly appointed Acting Reich Protector Daluege (silent). The event is attended by Reichsführer of the SS Himmler, State President Hácha, and members of the Protectorate Government. The funeral procession with the coffin, organised as a military parade, moves along Mostecká Street in Prague´s Lesser Town. The procession includes members of the Protectorate Government and continues across Charles Bridge, along Smetana Quay, National Avenue, and through the Wenceslas Square towards Prague Main Railway Station, where the coffin is loaded onto a train. The segment concludes with the train departing for Berlin.
Segment from Československý zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czechoslovak Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942, issue no. 40A, from a ceremonial gathering held in Brno on 21 September 1942 to name a unit of the Reich Labour Service after Reinhard Heydrich. The event is attended by Acting Reich Protector Kurt Daluege, Reich Secretary Karl Hermann Frank, colonel of the Reich Labour Service Rührig, the late Acting Reich Protector´s widow Lina Heydrich, and a number of prominent Nazi officials. The commander of the Reich Labour Service takes a pledge of loyalty. The segment is concluded with the participants performing the Nazi salute.
Segment from Československý zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czechoslovak Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942, issue no. 43, shows the renaming ceremony of a part of the Vltava waterfront in Prague (today the Smetana Quay) to Reinhard-Heydrich-Ufer on Sunday, 18 September 1942. The ceremony is attended by widow Lina Heydrich, Acting Reich Protector Kurt Daluege with his entourage, Reich Secretary Karl Hermann Frank, Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague Josef Pfitzner, Prime Minister of the Protectorate Government Jaroslav Krejčí, and Minister of the Interior Richard Bienert. The National Theatre is seen in the background. The ceremony is opened by Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague Josef Pfitzner. In his speech, Karl Hermann Frank highlights Reinhard Heydrich´s political legacy and the duties arising from it for Germans and Czechs (silent). After that, Frank begins the renaming ceremony and the unveiling of a plaque with a sign reading "Reinhard-Heydrich-Ufer." The participants perform a Nazi salute to the tune of the German anthem.