NEWS
World’s Largest Photo and Film Collection
August 19, 2026 (GMP). An estimated 200 media representatives were active in the vicinity of the Potsdam Conference during July and August 1945. This figure was cited by Charles G. Ross, press secretary to U.S. President Harry S. Truman, in a telex sent by the U.S. delegation. Only a very small number of these individuals—specifically those belonging to the official delegations—were authorized to take photographs or shoot film footage. The majority were required to remain outside Potsdam and Neubabelsberg; they were granted access to the conference site for only a very brief period after the delegations had departed.
The photographs and film footage created between July 7 and August 5, 1945, are not included in any single database that comprehensively catalogs all documents related to the conference. Consequently, when the GeschichtsManufaktur Potsdam began its research on the Potsdam Conference in 2020, it undertook the task of cataloging these visual sources, arranging them chronologically, and compiling a thematic overview. The project involves verifying image descriptions and distinguishing between footage shot during the conference and that created before or after the event. The resulting photo and film collection is currently the largest of its kind in the world dedicated to the Potsdam Conference.
Analysis of TOP SECRET Documents
August 18, 2026 (GMP). The U.S. National Archives holds a collection of records regarding the U.S. government’s „Map Room“ from the period of the Potsdam Conference. This collection consists of documents transferred to the Archives by the Harry S. Truman Library. It comprises 1,588 documents organized into 18 folders. The majority are former TOP SECRET documents that were declassified by the U.S. Department of State on August 10, 1972; they are available online.
The issue, however, is that while the 18 folders are divided into „IN“ and „OUT“ categories, the documents themselves are not arranged chronologically or thematically in relation to one another.
GeschichtsManfaktur Potsdam has rectified the lack of chronological organization and, to some extent, the thematic arrangement as well. An initial analysis was published on this page on August 14, 2026.
1945: When „EMBER,“ „ENVOY,“ and „STEEL“ Met in Potsdam
August 18, 2026 (GMP). „TERMINAL“ became the code name for the Potsdam Conference. Churchill proposed the code name to US President Truman while the latter was en route to Europe aboard the heavy cruiser USS *Augusta*. At the same time—at least for US government correspondence—code names were introduced for the three heads of state and leading government officials. Truman was designated „EMBER,“ Churchill „ENVOY,“ and Stalin „STEEL.“However, these designations were used for only a short time, as message encryption became increasingly professionalized. Simultaneously, the cover for the trip to Potsdam was blown due to an indiscretion by a US journalist.
Film About the Potsdam Conference
August 17, 2026 (GMP). Babelsberg-based Raccoon Features GmbH is producing a film about the Potsdam Conference in 2026. This was reported by the daily newspaper *Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten* (PNN) in its issue dated August 17, 2026. Titled *The Price of Peace*, the film is directed and written by New Zealand author, playwright, screenwriter, and film producer Anthony McCarten. Guy Pearce plays Harry S. Truman, Jared Harris plays Winston Churchill, and Merab Ninidze plays Stalin. Further information about the film can be found on IMDb. The screenplay is based on the 2016 bestseller *The Apocalypse Factory: Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age* by American science writer Steve Olson.
It is not yet known when the film will be completed. One thing is already certain, however: despite the euphoria expressed in the PNN article over the fact that the Potsdam Conference is being adapted into a film, the event itself likely plays only a minor role in it. Just as in Olson’s book. Across the 336 pages of the e-book edition, the Potsdam Conference is mentioned in only five places—and even then, only very superficially.
Remembering Arthur Prettyman
August 16, 2026 (GMP). Without his valet, Arthur Prettyman, the attire and appearance of U.S. President Harry S. Truman would have been incomplete. Just as he had for his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prettyman attended to him around the clock. Roosevelt showed his appreciation, and the valet can be seen with the President—or alone—in several photographs. Truman was not particularly attentive in this regard. During his stay in Neubabelsberg, Prettyman had to sleep in the basement of the „Little White House,“ and he does not appear in any photographs taken during that time. He is also absent from Truman’s memoirs.
The GeschichtsManufaktur Potsdam has created a small memorial to Arthur Prettyman, reminding the public of the many people who contributed to the Potsdam Conference.