120,000 prisoners of war taken by Germany during invasion of Poland in 1939. Large amounts of Polish Army equipment are abandoned and surrendered to German forces. Aerial views of abandoned weapons and military supplies, including artillery pieces, machine guns, gas masks, and small arms. German soldiers piling up surrendered rifles.
Adolf Hitler addresssing the Bundestag in Berlin. Animated map shows Berlin, Warsaw, and higlights Danzig and the Polish corridor. Newspaper headline reads 'Poles will fight for Danzig.' Polish officer addressing recruits. Polish women and children watching as they march off. Polish women and old men and youths digging trench fortifications. Animated map shows Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia. Map shows Vistula River and tributaries. Map shows Polish defense options. Map illustrates Nazi plan to launch pincer movements around the Polish defenses. Views of German forces marshaling near the Polish border in August, 1939. Polish infantry moving in horse-drawn wagons, supported by old fashioned horse cavalry. Film illustrates dramatic difference in military might, contrasting German armor, aircraft,and numbers to that of Poland. Closeup of German airmen loading bomb under their aircraft. German heavy artillery and siege mortar firing. German Panzer I light tank charging through snow. Motorized German forces entering Poland on September 1st, 1939. German Heinkel HE 111 bomber taking off toward the camera. Several Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers taking off. German aircraft strafing Polish aircraft on an airbase. Aircraft exploding on the ground. A Dornier Do 17 bomber maneuvering. More views from German aircraft strafing Polish aircraft on the ground. Formation of He 111 aircraft in flight. Gunner firing from blister in bomber. Aerial dogfight scenes with two Polish P50A fighter airplanes being fired upon and exploding in air. Aerial view of German Me Bf 109 as it maneuvers nearby. Me Bf 109 firing guns and flying through white smoke. A Polish P50 streaming black smoke. Another gunner in bomber firing and hitting a Polish P-50. An aircraft crashing in flames. More He 111 bombers. Glimpse of bombardier in He 111. Bombs striking Polish bridges, roads, railroads, etc. Closeup of Stuka dive bomber starting dive down on target. Polish civilians fleeing in a field. A stuka diving as children watch from hiding places. Bombs bursting near railroad. Closeup of German airman in cockpit. Polish cavalry charging. German tank tows a field artillery piece across a shallow river, A destroyed bridge in background. A Panzer I light tank emerges from the stream. German soldiers racing across the Vistula River in long powered boats. Series of maps show situation from September 5th as Germans advance and Poles retreat, ending with encirclement of Warsaw and defeat of Polish forces. Scenes of Warsaw, encircled and bombarded, but not yet fallen. Firemen respond to bombing and shelling. Buildings crumble. Germans load and fire 142mm Howitzers. Scenes of destruction from shelling. A factory chimney falls. Hitler at the front observing bombardment. Women and children seek shelter in the city. Dead horses in streets. September 27th Warsaw capitulates and German troops occupy it. Map shows Polish forces still resist in the Westerplatte fortress. German battleship, Schleswig-Holstein, firing her guns. Defenders raise white flag on October 1st, 1939. Polish prisoners marching away (one seen barefoot). Polish Nazi collaborator points out persons for arrest. Poles lined up by a pit for execution. German machine gunners firing. Glimpse of Nazi Heinrich Himmler. Bodies of executed. Polish women mourning the dead. Closeups of Polish women, children and old man. A woman throws fuel on a funeral pyre. Closeups of mourning women and girls. Hitler's Ju 52 transport plane takes off. Inside he talks with military passengers. Profile of Hitler silhouetted against the sky, looking at burning city of Warsaw. Russian army entering Poland talks with German officer. Sign boards in England say Britain declares war. French forces respond, marching from Caserne Maginot Barracks. British bombers attack German warships in the Kiel canal. German sailors rush to battle stations and fire anti-aircraft gun. Bombs away view as British planes bombs German Navy.
Invasion of Poland, 1 September 1939: German tanks, troops and cavalry on the move. They advance towards Poland. Soldiers on tanks. Horsemen advance through fields. Soldiers march on a road. Soldiers on horses. Soldiers lift a barricade on the border to let the troops pass. Soldiers on motorcycles in a field. Enemy fire through the trees. Soldiers jump out of the motorbikes and lie low in the field. Fire in prone position.
Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering walk together up the steps of Hitler's Berghof residence in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany. Inside the two walk about and converse. Views of them in several different rooms of the building. Hitler and Goering silhouetted against the large windows in one room, containing a long table and a world globe. Change of scene showing Nazi foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, being greeted by Soviet Union Minister of Foreign affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, in Moscow, Russia, where they negotiated a Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact (also called the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) in August 1939. Von Ribbentrop is seen seated with Soviet negotiators. Various newspapers reflect mixed world wide views. Some question whether war or peace is ahead. Another notes that the Reichstag supports the diplomatic initiative. Another suggests that England and France must decide. One headline says Chamberlain will want war. Next, Polish forces are seen on parade being reviewed by General Władysław Bortnowski. Among forces parading are mounted cavalry, marching infantry, a formation of PZL P.11 fighter planes, Tk-3 tankettes (Tankietka), 120 mm wz. field guns, CP7 Ursus artillery tractors pulling wagons, antiaircraft guns mounted on trucks, and army trucks carrying soldiers. Scene shifts to German airmen loading bombs on aircraft; arming machine guns; refueling; and testing functionality of aircraft elements, such as turrets. Pilot in cockpit as engines start on a Dornier Do 17 bomber. Ground crew pull chocks and aircraft taxis out. A Heinkel He 111 bomber taxiing. Two of them take off. A Do 17 takes off, followed by more He 111s. Closeup of one flying low over the camera on takeoff. A mixed formation of German aircraft aloft, including several fighters flying top cover; nine Dornier Do 17s; and other bombers. Aerial closeup of a Do 17 seen from adjacent wingman. Closeup of several He 111s in formation. Closeup of gunner in turret. View from above of three camouflaged Do 17s flying far below. Closeup of pilot in cockpit of He 111 with wingman off to left side. More views of Do 17s flying over patchwork of farmlands. Gunner preparing in his turret. Clouds from antiaircraft fire seen from plane cockpit. Bombs falling and exploding on city below. Succession of bomb craters in a line across a flat area of land. View from aircraft of damaged Polish aircraft on an airfield. Scenes of devastation on the ground including destroyed buildings and Polish aircraft. Waves of German Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers taking off; in formation; and peeling off to dive on targets. View from cockpit of one, through rotating propeller, as it dives to bomb a railroad marshaling yard, and view back as it pulls out, showing clouds of smoke rising in its wake. Several German officers peruse damage at rail site. Destroyed Bridge and shipyard. The German battleship, Schleswig-Holstein bombarding the Polish base at Danzig's Westerplatte on September 1st, 1939. German artillery firing in Poland. Formation of Do 17 bombers overhead. Damaged and abandoned wooden wagons at side of road traveled by Polish civilians evacuating in a horse-drawn wagon and herding their cattle to safety. Destroyed Polish artillery and equipment and horses during German invasion. Men dig graves and bury dead Polish soldiers. Vies from air of bombed out part of Warsaw. Polish citizens gathered in places seeking assistance. German forces on parade in Warsaw, including German soldiers goosestepping. Closeups of Adolf Hitler reviewing them.
German newspaper headlines from August 26, 1939 through September 1, 1939 which document the German sentiment leading up to the invasion of Poland on September 1. Sign for Beuthen, Poland (now Bytom) is shown, along with scenes from Poland (possibly Beuthen), showing gun fire damage to buildings.
Invasion of Danzig, 1 September 1939, during German invasion and occupation of Poland. Polish people in the streets. Women read a proclamation on wall. Officials leave a building as crowd sings 'Deutschland Uber Alles'. Artillery in street fires at Poles holding out in the Post Office at Heveliunsplatz . The Germans attack them with a Steyr ADGZ M35 armored car with the name "Sudetenland" painted on its side. Two grenades are thrown from the armored car. German troops move shielded by the armored car, which fires its guns at the buliding. A fire bursts out around it. Soldiers try to put out the fire with water hoses. Soldiers dashing in the street. A motorcade arrives at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin, with Adolf Hitler in a convertible. Hitler enters and addresses the Reichstag regarding Danzig and Poland. He is greeted with cheers. Nazi officers seated for the meeting. Nazi Swastika and symbol in the hall. German occupying troops are seen driving through Danzig aboard SD Kfz 7 half track trucks, amid cheers from civilians.