Liberators - Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II

original title:
Liberators - Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
country / year of production:
USA / 1992
original length:
90 min. , color
premiere:
USA: 11 November 1992, Public Broadcasting Service
genre:
Documentary
based on:
director:
William Miles , Nina Rosenblum
film script:
John Crowley
producer:
William Miles , Nina Rosenblum
cinematographer:
editor:
composer:
cast (role):
more:
Louis Gossett Jr. (Erzähler/Reader) , Denzel Washington (Erzähler/Narrator) , Denzel Washington , Louis Gossett Jr.
plot synopsis:
The 761st Tank Batallion was one of the spearheads of general Patton`s Third Army on its way across France and Germany. It took part in the liberation of the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. What makes the history of this unit so special is that all its enlisted men were African-Americans. The film describes the unit`s achievements and the veteran`s struggle for recognition.

Even as they scored victory after victory for the United States, black soldiers still faced discrimination. Includes footage of the first troops to liberate Dachau and Buchenwald.
keywords:
concentration camps , racism
war:
Second World War (1939-1945)
literature:
Yaffa Eliach, Brana Gurewitsch (eds.). The Liberators: Eyewitness Accounts of the Liberation of Concentration Camps: Oral History Testimonies of American Liberators From the Archives of the Center for Holocaust Studies. Brooklyn: Center for Holocaust Studies, Documentation and Research. 1981.
remarks:
After its broadcast on PBS on November 11, 1992 the film instantly stirred a controversy for allegedly inauccurate use of historical facts. On http://members.aol.com/dignews/undrfire.htm writer Asa Gordon sums up the heated debate.
availability: