September 1939, the German invasion of Poland

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

v2

Major
9,021
11,160
Nov 9, 2005
Cracow
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."

 
The Periscope Films site on YouTube has a lot of WW 2 propaganda films including German. I doubt if any of the Polish films survive, though if I'm wrong, I would like to see them. I'd love to see Japanese propaganda films from that time.
 
Last edited:
I have read a book written by a German tank commander who fought from the beginning to the end of the war. O Poland I was struck by how many losses the German tank units suffered which showed that it was far from a walkover. The writer himself was clearly surprised and shaken.
Poles were well known fighters, defeated Red Army back in 1920, they were not ill equipped or unorganized, like what most of games / movies tell to us.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back