Segment from Československý zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czechoslovak Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942, issue no. 21, from a concert held as part of Prague Music Weeks at the German Opera in Prague (now State Opera Prague) on 15 May 1942. Footage of the exterior and interior of the building. Prague´s German Philharmonic, conducted by Joseph Keilberth, performs the Finale of Anton Bruckner´s Eighth Symphony (authentic sound). Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich with his wife Lina, and the chief of the Wehrmacht troops in Prague, General Rudolf Toussaint, are present in the audience.
The segment from the 1943 Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) No. 40B captures the event 'Art for the Youth' organised in the National Theatre by the Curatorium for the Education of Youth in Bohemia and Moravia. The event starts with a premiere of Bedřich Smetana's newly staged opera Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride). Among the audience is the Minister of Education and National Enlightenment, Emanuel Moravec. Following are short excerpts from the performance and a shot of conductor Václav Talich giving his thanks to the audience.
Singer and composer Rudolf Antonín Dvorský accepts a glass plaque with his own portrait from a student of the School of Decorative Arts in a fragmented segment from Československý zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czechoslovak Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942, issue no. 28. Dvorský in Ze soboty na neděli (From Saturday to Sunday, dir. Gustav Machatý, 1931). Dvorský on Bohumil Veselý's balcony.
Segment from Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) issue no. 26B from 1943, shot on 20 June, captures a traditional church ceremony at the Saint Anthony pilgrimage site. The Board of Trustees for the Education of Youth exploited its popularity and organised a political rally at the venue, with speeches by the Uherské Hradiště District Representative of the Board Jan Ryba and General Secretary of the Board František Teuner. Then, the youth of Moravian Slovakia paid homage to Adolf Hitler. The festivities concluded with a presentation of Moravian Slovak dances performed by couples wearing folk costumes.
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) 1943, issue no. 23A, from a ceremonial gathering held on 31 May 1943 to rename Klatovská Avenue in Pilsen as Reinhard Heydrich-Strasse after the late Reich Protector. The large-scale renaming of important traffic thoroughfares after Reinhard Heydrich involved 19 cities within the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Reich Secretary Karl Hermann Frank oversees the troops. A festively decorated grandstand with a Nazi flag stands in front of the city theatre. A speech by Waltr Sturm, the Government Commissioner of the City of Pilsen (silent). The event is attended by Georg Wollner, the district head of NSDAP. The unveiling of a sign saying "Reinhard Heydrich Strasse". While the German anthem is played, people perform the Nazi salute.
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.
Segment from Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) issue no. 41B from 1942 captures the Sailing Promotion Day event organised by the Board of Trustees for the Education of Youth, in collaboration with the Czech Yacht Association and the Czech Yacht Club, which was held on the Vltava River in Prague-Podolí on 27 September.
Segment from Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) issue no. 8A from 1944 was shot at a training camp organised by the Board of Trustees for the Education of Youth at Pustevny. In February 1944, a ski course was held here for 300 selected instructors, who were to become leaders of newly established model brigades