How did the German propaganda present the invasion of Poland? And what did it actually look like? Watch the unique archival footage from the beginning of World War II and our interview with the British writer and historian Roger Moorhouse.
82 years ago, the German invasion of Poland began the most destructive war in the history of humankind. On this occasion, we prepared a short film, which consists of the footage recorded by German film crews in the first weeks of September 1939. The hitherto unreleased footage comes from the collection of the Polish National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA) was not used in Fritz Hippler's propaganda film "Feldzug in Polen" [The Campaign in Poland], but it is a remarkable historical source.
"It's a very strong footage that gives you a sense of the destruction of Poland, but it's very much from the German perspective – it's deliberately telling the story of the German victory and it shows the Poles as very two-dimensional: they're victims," – comments Roger Moorhouse, the British historian and writer, author of "First to Fight: The Polish War 1939". He emphasizes that "it shows the technological superiority that's being displayed in the myth of the Polish cavalry charging the German tanks. It is untrue, but still common in the British consciousness."
82 years ago, the German invasion of Poland began the most destructive war in the history of humankind. On this occasion, we prepared a short film, which consists of the footage recorded by German film crews in the first weeks of September 1939. The hitherto unreleased footage comes from the collection of the Polish National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA) was not used in Fritz Hippler's propaganda film "Feldzug in Polen" [The Campaign in Poland], but it is a remarkable historical source.
"It's a very strong footage that gives you a sense of the destruction of Poland, but it's very much from the German perspective – it's deliberately telling the story of the German victory and it shows the Poles as very two-dimensional: they're victims," – comments Roger Moorhouse, the British historian and writer, author of "First to Fight: The Polish War 1939". He emphasizes that "it shows the technological superiority that's being displayed in the myth of the Polish cavalry charging the German tanks. It is untrue, but still common in the British consciousness."
