Operation Teutonic Sword

*10.0

Status

Released

Production

DEFA-Studio für Dokumentarfilme

Aired

1958-06-06

Operation Teutonic Sword

An East German documentary by Andrew and Annelie Thorndike investigating NATO General Hans Speidel’s alleged role in the 1934 assassination of Yugoslav King Alexander I and French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. Drawing on archival footage and documents, it scrutinizes Speidel’s past and postwar career, provoking controversy and a ban in West Germany. The film won First Prize at the 1958 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Heinrich Greif Prize in East Germany.