The Reichstag President, Field Marshal Hermann Goering, opened the historic meeting of the Reichstag with a short speech at 10 am on Friday morning
Danzig - the beautiful old German city. View of the St. Mary's Cathedral
"Danzig was and is a German city! The Corridor was and is German!"
"The Versailles Treaty means nothing for Germans!"
Ethnic German refugee families from the Province of Volhynia seek protection in the Reich
"Poland has unleashed the fight against the Free City of Danzig!"
"I have therefore now decided to speak to Poland in the same language that Poland applies for months against us!"
1 will make sure that our border in the east will be peaceful as on our other frontiers.
Deutschland – Sieg Hail!
Reich Chancellery, on September 3, 1939: The Fuhrer signed his appeal to the German people
Before their departure, the Poles blew the great Vistula Bridge near Dirschau
The destroyed railway station in Dirschau - a witness of Polish destruction
Polish prisoners on their march to Berlin
Counterattack forward
Sortie over the clouds!
A Polish airfield has been bombed
Only important military targets have been hit!
Our Luftwaffe dive-bombers in action,
bombing Polish bunker line on Mlawa
German artillery rush through a burning village in Poland
This detachments will overcome any difficult terrain
A silent witness of the senseless Polish vandalism
Light infantry guns cross water stream at full gallop
The ethnic Germans of the city of Tarnow
Greet liberators of their home!
Our motorcycle riflemen leading the way through smoking ruins
German cavalry patrol riding through flaming village
One of the many transit camps of captured Polish weapons
This German farm was burned down by Poles
German infantry in the Polish village
German Infantry - constantly on the heels of the enemy!
Polish snipers are taken out of their holes!
The guns of the "Schleswig-Holstein" thunder - and Westerplatte is burning brightly
Stubborn resistance was broken: they had to surrender
Order to attack: light armored car going in action from dense bush
All hands to work: German advance is breaking through inexorably
The Poles blown up all bridges - and yet advance continues
The Fuhrer motorcade driving through the Tuchel Heath to the front
An unexpected encounter: combat soldiers meeting the Fuhrer
Ethnic German peasant family returns to home soil
Their fate was hard! But the words of the Liberator give new courage
Under the eyes of the Fuhrer our army crossing the Vistula River
After the crossing of the Upper Vistula River: Polish soil was fought over in tough marches – rest is always brief
Our combat engineers work tirelessly
Everywhere they pave the way for their victorious comrades
Also work detachments are here
Austrian soldiers cross the San River
The bridge is up to all requirements of our combat engineers
Men with spades meet the Fuehrer motorcade on their way to Lodz
Wounded tell their Fuhrer about quiet devotion to the duty
The Fuhrer welcomes General of Artillery von Reichenau
Everyone wants to see him! - Comrade among comrades
All eyes are shining - all hands are up in salute!
On the front with General of Artillery von Küchler
The Fuhrer is here! - Ethnic German girl cheers him
Everybody wants to see him! – The car can move forward only very slowly
This lieutenant captured the standard of the Polish 8th Rifle Regiment on horseback
General of Armored troops Guderian making his report
and Major-General Lichel describes the course of the battle
General of Infantry Strauss and General of Artillery von Kluge reporting the situation
Comradely handshake with General of Infantry Blaskowitz
The Fuhrer discussing tactical situation with General of Artillery, Major-General von Reichenau and General-Major Crantz
The Fuhrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces discusses flow of the battle with Colonel General List
and General of Artillery von Reichenau
Major General Crantz informed Fuhrer about the use of his troops
The Fuhrer and Supreme Commander thanked Colonel-General List
General von Bock reported that Mlawa has been taken
The Fuhrer discussing the tactical situation with General von Rundstedt
With only the big goal in mind
- on the military roads of today!
The head of the entire operations of the army in Poland: Colonel General von Brauchitsch and his Chief of Staff, General of Artillery Halder
In the Fuhrer HQ on the Eastern Front: Colonel-General Keitel reports to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
On the same day when British tried to provoke Poles for a re-conquest -
- Fuhrer visited Lodz, where workers everywhere are going back to the streets in order to bring order
Fuhrers motorcade goes through Polish territory. The escort squad secures the ride
On these dusty roads Fuhrer meets yet again with incalculable columns of Polish prisoners
First Soldier at the goulash cannon -
one with them in trouble and Victory
The winner returns Danzig to the Reich
Westerplatte in German hands: the dream of "Polish sea" is now in the past
Gdynia, "one of the most important bases of the Polish sea" becomes Gotenhafen again
The Supreme Commander with the brave crew of the "Schleswig-Holstein"
Order has been carried on - bridge over the Narew River is destroyed
A Polish town ...
near Bug Canal
With Fuhrer airplane on the way to the frontline leaders
Where it came to air combat, the enemy has been broken
Congratulations from the Fuhrer
Air General Kesselring reported about military action
Just a single bomb - and that what was left from a Polish armored train
The Fuhrer and his entourage visited the destroyed armored car
The dive bombers did a great job!
Field Marshal Goering leader in the Headquarters
The Fuhrer sit for a discussion with Reich Minister of the Foreign Affairs von Ribbentrop
The Supreme Commander and his Wehrmacht adjutant
Admiral Dr. c h. Raeder is going to report
Thanks for brave commitment of his bodyguard to the Supreme commander
These men of the Leibstandarte have particularly distinguished themselves
Reichsführer SS Himmler in Gotenhafen
On observation of the Warsaw suburb of Praga
The barrage of German artillery on the fortress Warsaw going according the schedule
Under its protection infantry pushes further and further into the Polish capital
The bombardment has made resistance of the Polish city commander inevitably futile
Barricades blocking the streets of the big city in order to stop the German advance
The Polish peace emissaries came, their situation is serious
General Blaskowitz presenting surrender terms in the carriage of the Army High Command
The Fuhrer and Supreme Commander speaks in the new Reich Chancellery to the commanding officers of the campaign (Click on the image to enlarge).
From left to right: Colonel-General von Bock, Colonel-General List, General of Artillery Kuchler, General of Infantry von Reichenau, Gross Admiral Dr.h c. Raeder, General-Admiral Albrecht, Rear Admiral Schniewind, General of Infantry Blaskowitz, General of Artillery Halder, General of Artillery von Kluge, Colonel-General Milch, Air General Kesselring, Air General Lohr and Major-General Jeschonnek.
Poland is defeated! - The remains of a million-strong army go into captivity
The leader of all Germans has arrived to the Polish capital
The "campaign of eighteen days" has gone down in history
The great battle for German freedom is completed
Fuhrer’s Armed Forces is the pride of the German nation
and at the Reichstag session of 6 October 1939 the world heard about new ways to peace