Feldzug in Polen

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Feldzug in Polen (The Campaign in Poland) is a 69 minute Nazi propaganda film depicting the 1939 invasion of Poland and directed by Fritz Hippler. Portraying the Poles as aggressors and ethnic Germans living in Poland as an oppressed minority, the film alleges that the Poles employed unheroic tactics in the war and characterizes as senseless the defence of a besieged Warsaw. The film was often screened by German minorities overseas to clarify the German point of view.[1] The Gleiwitz incident was part of Operation Himmler run by the SS and SD to justify German aggression. It involved dressing Nazi concentration camp prisoners as Polish soldiers who apparently attacked a German radio station. The prisoners were murdered by the SS/SD, appearing to have been shot by heroic German defenders. Other parts of Operation Himmler involved terrorist attacks on the Polish Railways and attacks by ethnic Germans on Polish property.

Shown from left to right in this 1939 photograph are: Franz Josef Huber, Arthur Nebe, and the three men responsible for planning of most of Operation Himmler: Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Müller.
Photo of the Royal Castle in Warsaw on fire after being shelled by the Germans on 17 September.
The Royal Castle in Warsaw on fire after being shelled by the Germans

French involvement was de-emphasized, in order to present Great Britain, in its attempt to encircle Germany, as the villain, to justify the Nazi-Soviet pact.[2] Polish provocations finally resulted in the blitzkrieg, led by Hitler; Poles were sometimes depicted as brave, to emphasize the German triumph.[3]

Release

Its premiere was held in the Berlin Ufa-Palast um Zoo, usually used by Goebbels to present important films.[4] It received massive media support and was officially described as "valuable from a political viewpoint," "artistically valuable," "educational for the nation," and "a film of instruction.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Robert Edwin Hertzstein, The War That Hitler Won p275-6 ISBN 399-11845-4
  3. ↑ Robert Edwin Hertzstein, The War That Hitler Won p276 ISBN 399-11845-4
  4. ↑ Robert Edwin Hertzstein, The War That Hitler Won p275 ISBN 399-11845-4
  5. ↑ Robert Edwin Hertzstein, The War That Hitler Won p277 ISBN 399-11845-4
Preceded by
Der Westwall (1939)		 Hippler Propaganda films
Feldzug in Polen (1940) 		Succeeded by
The Eternal Jew (1940)

External links

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