German propaganda film during World War 2, before invasion of Poland, entitled 'Feuertaufe' meaning baptism by fire. A polish soldier on horseback sounds a bugle. What appears to be a newspaper, shows image of Polish Marshal Edward Smigly-Rydz; artillery; and warplanes; and comments about Polish military resistance. Narrator refers to Poland, and Britain at war with Germany. A parade of Polish cavalry units, airplanes, armored units and tanks before Polish military leader Edward Smigly-Rydz. A map illustrates Poland's presumed expansionist policies, including the conquest of Slovak Republic; the German protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; and threatening Germany, itself. Referring to Danzig Narrator says: "But Danzig is German." Large crowd in Danzig listen to Nazi Gaulieter Albert Forster. German- Danzig troops patrol and construct razor wire obstacles. German flag and symbols on buildings in Danzig. German troops seen in Poland. Views of the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, underway and entering the harbor at Danzig as crowd on docks cheers. A row of German JU-87 Stuka dive bombers parked on a field. Other German warplanes, including float planes, and twin engine bombers.
View from German airplane flying over Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) Poland,during World War 2 (September, 1939) highlighting numerous bridges destroyed by the German bombing campaign. Polish civilians sit on bank of a river, next to destroyed bridge, awaiting boats to ferry them across. Makeshift ferry operations are seen. Women and children throw flowers at German troops passing in military vehicles. German troops engaged in cleanup of bomb damage and helping free a stuck military vehicle, transporting a long barrel artillery gun. Animated map shows shrinking perimeter of Polish military resistance during September, 1939. Polish Army prisoners of war marching along a road.
Invasion of Danzig, 1 September 1939: 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.
The German attack on Poland, at Danzig (Gdansk) triggering World War 2. Views of German artillery firing at buildings across a stretch of water. German artilleryman looking through periscopic binoculars. Smoke rising from the shelling. German troops firing machine guns. German battleship Schleswig-Holstein is seen bombarding Polish army defenses at Westerplatte. (The battleship had entered the harbor and anchored off Westerplatte, in August, under the false pretense of a friendly visit.) Columns of smoke rising from fires started by the shelling. German troops advancing toward Gdynia in armored cars and trucks. A german officer on horseback. A German soldier on a motorcycle. Two German Panzer II tanks moving down a muddy slope. Army vehicles on wet roads and infantry making their way across a shallow streams. Infantry marching along a road. Closeups of the German soldiers as they pass the camera. Officers in a staff car. View from a height of smoke rising from fires on the ground in distance, mixing with cumulus clouds above. (Note: some English narrative begins late in the film, around TC: 00:58)
Germany invades Poland in 1939 at start of World War 2. Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag in Kroll Opera House, Berlin. Axis soldiers marching (these appear to be Italian). Aerial view of the soldiers marching in formation. Airplanes flying in formation over a city. Scenery and landmakrs of Polish city of Gdansk Poland (Danzig) before the invasion. People walking on the streets. Various church and other buildings. German sailors on destroyers underway at sea. German sailors manning 20mm antiaircraft deck gun mounted on submarine. Polish infantry and cavalry rally to the defense of their homeland. Polish soldiers driving tankettes (TK or TKS or TK-3) in shallow water and on land. German troops using flame throwers. Smoke arises due to bombardment. German troops firing 77mm field artillery at a bridge. Dragons Teeth seen on the Siegfried Line. Shot of Mussolini giving speech . (Note: Almost no sound .)
German aggression during World War II. German troops marching in formation. A large crowd on either side of a road watches the troops. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler delivering a speech in Germany. Troops standing in formation listen to Hitler. On August 23, 1939 : People holding banners that read 'Down with War and Racism' and 'Aid the Allies'. New York Times headline reads: 'Reich and Soviet Join for Peace -- or War; No Buffer State; New Pact Warns Allies; Estonia Gives Moscow Sea and Air Bases'. Soviet politician Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin and German Foreign Minister Friedrich Wilhelm Ribbentrop with other officers during the signing of Soviet German non-aggression pact (also called Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) in Moscow, Russia in August, 1939. German Stuka dive bombers in action, when Germany invades Poland in a "blitzkrieg.".German Heinkel He-111 bombers in action. Buildings being totally destroyed by bombs. Red Army tanks and troops moving in snow. Victorious German troops marching in occupation. German heavy artillery batteries firing.