Arte - War in the Arctic Storm in the North (2007) Part 1

The Arctic a featureless expanse of permanent ice, but even here the fury of World War II raged. A battle for mineral resources and strategic interests. Between 1940 and 1945, tens of thousands of soldiers fought above the Arctic Circle in temperatures as low as -60 degrees, abandoned to their fate and forgotten by the outside world. In 1940, German forces occupied Denmark and Norway virtually overnight. Securing control of northern Europe was vital for the Nazis without the iron and nickel resources of Scandinavia, Germany could not have fought for more than 12 months. When the invasion of the Soviet Union began in 1941, part of the German force was deployed in Scandinavia to penetrate Soviet territory from the north. Their objective was Murmansk, the most important ice-free northern port, where the Soviets were supplied. German army planned to provide their homeland with raw materials, conquer the ice-free port of Murmansk and set up weather stations far up in the north. However, temperatures dropping to minus 60 degrees, a roadless tundra and fierce resistance from the Red Army halted the offensive from the start. Thousands of soldiers spent the winter trapped. The fierce desire to take Murmansk then diverted the conflict towards the sea. However, the deployment of forces in the Arctic Ocean was an invitation to suicide. In search of witnesses and traces of evidence, the film directors investigated the exciting history of the war and found previously unseen material and private photos. In addition, the last eyewitnesses of these historic events in Germany, Austria, Norway and Finland were interviewed. Majestic landscapes, gripping stories and fascinating historical material have given rise to this film document. This documentary, divided into two parts, brings together eyewitness testimonies, unpublished and private material, to explore one of the most unknown chapters of the Second World War.

Part 1

Norway in the spring of 1940 a peaceful country. The Second World War had spared northern Europe up to this point. But England and Germany were equally interested in using the strategically important flank on the Arctic Ocean for their war aims. Hitler put everything on the line, sending the navy, air force and army on a highly risky military operation. Operation Weseruebung begins. There are very few places where the events of the war can be retraced as clearly as in the far north of Europe. The authors of the documentary set out to search for traces in a remote country - icy, deserted. They follow the path of Austrian mountain troops from their bases south of the Alps to far beyond the Arctic Circle, speaking to people whose lives were decisively shaped by the relationship between occupiers and occupied. And they find stories that once again prove Adolf Hitler's megalomaniac plans. After two years of work, they succeeded in producing a contemporary document that is particularly impressive due to the high proportion of previously unknown original footage. “War in the Arctic – Storm in the North” is a film on the trail of an almost forgotten story.

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