Feldzug in Polen = Campaign in Poland

German propaganda film in a documentary style on the invasion of Poland, September 1939 using combat footage. Opens with statement of Polish armed strength and war aims showing various arms and equipment of the Polish army and air force. Shows Polish infantry marching. Polish horse drawn machine gun unit. Polish cavalry armed with lancers. Polish TKS tankette company led by motorcycle with sidecar. Polish Commander-in-Chief Marshal E. Rydz-Smigly reviews military parade. Crowd scenes probably in Warsaw. Polish tank battalion on parade Lazik (jeep) and 7TPjw light tanks and tank crews. Polish PZL-11a and PZL-11c fighter aircraft of No. 113 (Owl) Squadron Pursuit Brigade. C7P heavy artillery tractors towing in component form the 220mm Skoda model 32 heavy mortar. Polish anti-aircraft battery equipped with wz36 75mm guns. Burning farm houses belong to Germans supposedly burnt by Polish guerrillas. Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag declaring that force will be met by force. Proclamation in German that the city of Danzig (Gdansk) announces its return to the Reich. Civilian women reading proclamation. Danzig, German SS troops and light artillery in action in the street. Artillery shells explode at the Polish post office. SS ADGZ eight wheel armoured car "Sudetenland" drives to the gates of the post office with SS trooper on board. Trooper throws a grenade into the grounds of the post office. SS infantry huddle behind armoured car to assault the post office. Light artillery piece firing. Large fire outside the post office. Professor Burkhardt Lead Commissioner for Danzig leaves his office. Danzig's Rathaus (townhall). Danzig's buildings draped in Nazi flags. Motorized German troops parade through Danzig and are hailed as liberators by the German population. Map of Poland showing Polish war aims - invasion of Germany - graphics dissolve to show German war aims. German Panzer troops prepare to move into Poland - PzKpfw II and PzKpfw IV tanks, motorcycles and motor vehicles. German cavalry troops and motor vehicles. Columns of German infantry marching. SdKfz 231 armoured cars advancing. PzKpfw II light and PzKpfw IV Medium tanks advancing. German cavalry advancing along dusty road. Motorcycle troops speed forward. Cavalry at gallop. Dug in MG-34 Machine gun firing. German heavy artillery battery firing. 3.7cm Pak35/36 anti-tank gun pushed into position. Various shots of German tanks, infantry etc advancing and in action. Explosion on road. German troops move through the village of Gromada Wilkow. Heavy halftrack towing 8.8cm anti-aircraft gun. German horse drawn artillery. SdKfz 231 eight wheel armoured radio cars and motorcyclists moving through village. Blown up bridge across the Vistula River at Derschau?. Wrecked Polish railway locomotive and carriages. German engineers and Reich labour servicemen rebuild the bridge. German troops crossing repaired bridge. PzKpfw I fords river. Half tracks towing artillery ford river. Luftwaffe He-111 medium bombers taking off and shots of aircraft in flight. Aerial shot of blown bridge and various shots of reconnaissance flight. Do-17 aircraft taxying and deposits film magazine which is developed and interpreted by Luftwaffe intelligence. Close up of developed aerial photograph showing Polish troops moving along road. Bomber crews briefed and scenes at forward airfield showing He-111 and Do-17 bombers. Armourers unpacking bombs. Pilots scramble to Bf-109 fighters and take off. Ju-87B Stuka dive bomber takes off. Dive bomb sequence filmed from Stuka of attack on railroad yard. Flak bursts. Aerial of Do-17 bomber formation. Aircraft gunners firing at Polish troops and aircraft bombing town. Wrecked Polish armoured train Nr. 13, General Sosnkowski,. Wrecked Polish Breguet 19 biplane light bomber - German Henschel observation aircraft parked in background. Wrecked Polish aircraft hangars. A wrecked Polish PZL-23B Karas attack/reconnaissance bomber. German infantry marching. German troops greeted by German civilian population - peasants throw flowers on vehicles. Polish street names removed from town. German army parade through city possibly Posen (Poznan). Burnt out houses and town buildings. Wrecked German tank and halftrack. Masked German civilian identify Polish war criminals. The Pole von Konitz? accused of torturing wounded German soldiers. Rumours of destruction of Polish churches denied - shows German soldiers paying their respects at the monastery of Jasna Gora, Czestachowa. Map showing situation on the Western Front and then the Polish front. The Polish naval fortress on the Wester Platte attacked by German bombers. The German battleship 'Schleswig-Holstein' shelling the Wester Platte. German infantry attack Polish positions on the Wester Platte. Gydnia, Polish ships sunk in harbour to block German warships. German field artillery shells Gydnia. Schleswig Holstein shelling Gydnia. Long shot of smoke rising from the city. German troops and SS armoured cars enter Gydnia. Polish poster "To our brother Poles". Polish garrison surrenders. Polish troops rounded up dress in civilian clothes. Adolf Hitler arrives in Gydnia. German troops flock to meet Hitler and have his autograph. Hitler eats soldier's food at a field kitchen. The Hitler's headquarters, Goering, Brauchitsch and Himmler are present. Map of Poland showing encirclement of Polish armies at Kutno and Radom. A Polish cavalry brigade surrendering mounted troops, bicycle troops and supply wagons. Cavalry troops disarm. Captured Polish weapons stockpiled, Mauser wz.98 rifles, ckm wz.30 machine guns, infantry and cavalry helmets and long barrel Kb ppanc wz.35 'Ur' anti tank rifles. Captured Polish 220mm Skoda mortar barrel on transporter and CP7 artillery tractor. Captured searchlight and towing vehicle. Polish wz.36 37mm Bofors anti-tank guns. Captured Polish field artillery. Aerial shot of captured heavy weapons. Polish POWs, horse drawn wagons and columns of Polish POWs marching along road. Austrian mountain troops advancing with pack horses carrying mountain guns. Hitler reviews troops crossing the river San. Troops cross improvised bridge across the San. Close up of Hitler. German horse drawn and motorised troops enter a Polish town - buildings damaged and on fire. Fatigued German troops on the march. Soldiers sleeping on horse drawn vehicles. Troops resting, feeding horses, cleaning weapons, servicing armoured vehicles. Panzer troops at mess on top of their PzKpfw 38(t) tanks. German troops on the march reading newspapers while marching. Horse drawn wagons, artillery, PzKpfw II, PzKpfw IV and PzKpfw I tanks advance on poor Polish roads. PzKpfw 38 (t) tanks move through Polish town. Trucks and motor cycles cross stream. Kutno pocket, 13 September - abandoned and wrecked Polish wagons, artillery and equipment. September 18, Russian and German forces meet - Russian and German officer salute and shake hands. Map showing the demarcation between the German and Russian armies. Warsaw, Hitler reviews his body guard - Himmler also present. German field radios and operators. Foreign diplomats leave Warsaw. German heavy mortars and field guns fire into the city. German troops on the outskirts of the city. Hitler views the bombardment. Aerial shot of artillery explosions and fires. Surrender of the city on 27 September to General Blaskowitz. Polish general negotiates with Blaskowitz in a bus. Germans enter Warsaw. Overturned tramway cars block city streets. German horse drawn and motorised troops enter Warsaw. End of item. [Up to March 1999 this film was incorrectly identified as Feuertaufe = Baptism of fire. Film is incomplete, reel 1 not received. English language commentary.]