The war in Europe was reaching its cataclysmic final months with
Germany surrounded on all sides. Most of Hitler's forces had been
driven from Poland by the Red Army and the Soviets were poised a
short distance from Berlin, while the Western allies, having
repulsed the Fuhrer's Ardennes offensive, were preparing to cross
the Rhine. More than ever Hitler needed his people to stiffen their
resolve for the coming onslaught. To demonstrate what will be
expected of the German people, and what they could achieve if they
refused to acknowledge defeat, a major feature film would be shown,
featuring the legendary place which held out against Napoleon when
he invaded Prussia in 1806 - the city of Kolberg. After crushing
the Prussian Army in 1806, French forces swept into the Prussian
province of Pomerania. One by one most Prussian fortresses
surrendered, mostly without offering any resistance, but Kolberg
stood firm. The small and weakly-fortified city held out for almost
four months, despite being surrounded by Napoleon's forces, with
Major von Gneisenau organising a citizen's militia to aid the army
in its defence. Though much of the city was blasted into ruin,
Kolberg remained in Prussian hands until the war with France ended
with the signing of the Peace of Tilsit, by which time its defence
had become legendary. Even though the Third Reich was literally
entering its death-throes, in attempting to reproduce the siege of
Kolberg on film, thousands of experts, extras and horses were taken
from the war effort by the Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph
Goebbels. The film's emphasis was to show how civilians and the
military can work together to save Germany - just as Kolberg had
been saved from the French. The result has been stated to be the
most expensive feature film ever made in Germany. This book
examines the dramatic conditions under which the film was produced,
and the scale of the resources needed to do so, followed by its
first showing on 30 January 1945. All Goebbels' efforts, though,
were to no avail, as the film never went on general release. A
month later, as the author reveals, Kolberg found itself under
siege once again, but this time, after bitter house-to-house
fighting, it fell to the Soviets in just two weeks.
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