Anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War

Anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War
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Full title: Rocznica wybuchu wojny światowej
Release Date: 1945-08-31
Subject Categories: history
overview
About the film

German preparations for war. Bombardment of Warsaw. Occupation of Poland. Capitulation of Berlin. German parade in the streets of Warsaw, 1939. Ranks of German prisoners-of-war.

Director of Photography: Adolf Forbert
Subject Number: 1
Event: Anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War.
Time: 1945
Place: Berlin, Warsaw
Rights: WFDiF
Sound: mono
Frame Size: 4:3
Colour system: black and white
Sequence description
00:00:14:18A map with the German swastika.
00:00:17:07Title: "1939", Hitler’s speech.
00:00:21:02A German mechanic on an armoured combat vehicle.
00:00:23:20Flying German bombers.
00:00:25:06The explosion of German bombs on Polish territory, German airplanes, buildings ablaze.
00:00:39:14Buildings on fire.
00:00:48:02The capitulation of Warsaw.
00:00:54:10Arrests on the streets.
00:01:12:01A crowd of arrested people.
00:01:35:10A sign with the inscription: "Berlin", a tank with Soviet soldiers in the background.
00:01:36:21White flags raised on houses in Berlin.
00:01:42:12Polish soldiers on the streets of Berlin.
00:01:49:08German people with their property.
00:01:59:18A group of Germans clearing rubble in the ruins of Berlin.
00:02:16:09German procession down Ujazdów Avenue.
00:02:25:18Columns of German captives.
00:00:04:06Credits: "POLISH NEWSREEL 24/45".
00:00:31:00Tanks, fighting vehicles, German soldiers marching.
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reader text

It has been six years since the Germans started the most terrible war in history. The first German bombs were reserved just for Poland. The Polish people, who never wanted war, stood face to face with the criminal power of the world's fiercest fire-bombers. Cruelty and endless pride changed the Germans into the tormentors of Europe. They exploited every possible form of humiliation upon us. There was no crime they would not commit. The nightmare of German occupation in Poland lasted six years – longer than anywhere else in Europe. Warsaw capitulated on the 27th of September 1939. On the 2nd of May 1945 the white flag signifying an unconditional surrender were raised among the ruins of Berlin. The Polish soldier entered the German capital. The government of the Polish Republic issued an order to expel all German nationals from our motherland. Let them go back to where they came from. Let them now rebuild, under strict surveillance, the cities which were brought to ruin by the hand of historic justice. This is how six years ago the Germans were marching along Ujazdow Avenue. They thought they were marching to victory. They found no victory but instead found death. They found no victory, only the disgrace of captivity, the gallows, and the disdain of the world, and ultimately the justice they thought they had eradicated from the land.

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