Apocalypse: The Second World War
Auckland War Memorial Museum marks the 70th Anniversary of the outbreak of World War II by showing National Geographic Channel’s powerful six-part series,
Apocalypse: The Second World War, in the Scars On The Heart II gallery.
During the war, amateur filmmakers and photographers documented the reality of being at war. This is not stock, newsreel or propaganda footage. At the end of the war, this and other “top secret” footage of the war’s destruction was stashed away and forgotten. Now declassified, colourised and restored, this footage reveals World War II as it has never been seen before. This is provocative and sometimes disturbing footage taken by those who witnessed the war first-hand.
Made up entirely of original 35mm, 16mm and 8mm films, this series includes rare footage of the Polish officers’ massacre at Katyn, the inhumane treatment of French soldiers taken prisoner by the Nazis. The films provide viewers with a ground-breaking portrait of the Second World War that depicts not only its complexity, but the perspectives of both its victims and its victors.
Please note: Apocalypse: The Second World War contains graphic real life war imagery. We advise viewer discretion.Each episode is approximately 47 minutes in duration and screens on loop.
Saturday 5 September – Sunday 13 September
THE AGGRESSION
When almost nothing seems to stand in his way Hitler invades Poland and the world is on the brink of war. Footage of the Fuhrer relaxing at his Alpine chalet is intercut with haunting images of persecuted Jews in the Lodz Ghetto and Stalin’s gulags.
Monday 14 September – Sunday 20 September
THE CRUSHING DEFEAT
Hitler launches his Blitzkrieg (the lightning war). German soldiers film precious military equipment being abandoned by British troops on the shores of Dunkirk; thousands of French civilians are filmed fleeing Paris, and Londoners dig themselves out from daily bombings.
Monday 21 September – Sunday 27 September
SHOCK
The submarine war and the war in the desert. Operation "Barbarossa", Hitler's Blitzkrieg in Russia.
Monday 28 September – Sunday 4 October
THE TURNING POINT
Pearl Harbour, Singapore, Midway, Guadalcanal, Stalingrad.
Monday 5 October – Sunday 11 October
THE GREAT LANDING
D-Day in Normandy and Saipan in the Pacific.
Monday 12 October – Sunday 18 October
THE END OF THE NIGHTMARE
The bombing of Germany and the Holocaust. Victory day and the war in Pacific. Kamikazes and the Atomic Bomb.
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