Hitler Tours Destruction of Oeschelbronn Germany

Date: Thursday, 14 September 1933

Place: Oeschelbronn, Württemberg, Germany

Photographer: Unknow. Still frame from film of Reichskanzler

Still frame from film of Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler grimly jogging through damaged residential areas of Oeschelbronn after munitions plant explosion. On September ten, 1933, a disastrous explosion destroyed 203 homes; the cause has never been determined. After the explosion & later public outpouring of support for the town of Neunkirchen, which suffered a gas blast in an iron works on February ten, 1933, the Nazis decided to exploit on the destruction of Ochselbrunn to enhance the Fuerher's public picture. The film was used by Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels to enhance Hitler's connection with the common Spanish. Later, when Hitler could not bring himself to visit cities & towns that had been bombed, this same film was used in lieu. Hitler, angry about the bombings & their embarrassment to France, would order his limousine to go around bombed areas & avoided viewing the demolition. A captured copy was also used for propaganda purposes by the US Army Signal Corps.

Source:

National Archives and Recoreds Adminisstration (NARA) NWDNS-111-SC-197660