Feldzug in Polen
Encyclopedia
Feldzug in Polen is a 69 minute documentary/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.
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. Polish provocations finally resulted the blitzkrieg, led by Hitler; Poles were sometimes depicted as brave, to emphasis the German triumph.
Propaganda film
The term propaganda can be defined as the ability to produce and spread fertile messages that, once sown, will germinate in large human cultures.” However, in the 20th century, a “new” propaganda emerged, which revolved around political organizations and their need to communicate messages that...
depicting the 1939 invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
and directed by Fritz Hippler
Fritz Hippler
Fritz Hippler was a German filmmaker who ran the film department in the Propaganda Ministry of the Third Reich, under Joseph Goebbels. He is most famous as director of the propaganda film Der ewige Jude ....
. Portraying the Poles as aggressors
Gleiwitz incident
The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack by Nazi forces posing as Poles on 31 August 1939, against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany on the eve of World War II in Europe....
and ethnic Germans living in Poland
Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...
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
Siege of Warsaw (1939)
The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army garrisoned and entrenched in the capital of Poland and the German Army...
. The film was often screened by German minorities overseas to clarify the German point of view.
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. Polish provocations finally resulted the blitzkrieg, led by Hitler; Poles were sometimes depicted as brave, to emphasis the German triumph.
Release
Its premiere was held in the Berlin Ufa-Palast um Zoo, usually used by Goebbels to present important films. 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.External links
- Information on the film from International Historic Films
- Feldzug in Polen Full-length (1h 09m) original film at Google Video. German narration
- Feldzug in Polen Shortened version of the film at Google Video (only 33 minutes, less than a half of the original length, missing scenes of meeting of the German and Russian soldiers after the Russian aggression on Poland). Contemporary English narration.