This “restricted” United States War Department Film Bulletin provides the viewer with footage of the German Army’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Historians mark the invasion as the start of World War II. “Poland’s 34 million inhabitants, crushed, scattered and enslaved,” the narrator grimly states at mark 00:35. The attack was characterized by extensive bombing to destroy Poland’s air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps. As the narrator points out, it was the world’s introduction to the German word, “blitzkrieg.” Utilizing footage that was captured by German frontline cameramen, the film shows columns of German tanks rolling through fields at mark 01:00 on their way to the invasion.

In Danzig (what today is Gdansk, Poland), the film shows the German “liberation” of the city, and at mark 02:30, captures German soldiers setting fire to a building that held the city’s few remaining defenders. “World War II is a reality,” we are told.

With little to stand in their way, Germany troops are shown rolling through the Polish countryside with tanks and machine gunners wreaking havoc on towns and villages. At mark 05:50, German troops are shown rebuilding a bridge near one Polish village that retreating forces had unsuccessfully tried to demolish. “The hastily constructed span is quickly put to use by the quickly advancing Nazis,” the announcer explains, as trucks, tanks, and horse-drawn wagons move onward.

During a brief break in the battles, shown at mark 08:20, German troops spend their time resting or cleaning their weapons and equipment to maintain their efficiency, At the Port of Gdynia, on the Baltic Sea, fleeing Polish forces tried to slow Nazi movement by sinking ships. Undeterred, the Nazis direct their fire across the harbor at mark 09:00 and into the town, assisted by bombardment by German battleships, leading to the surrender of the Polish town.

At mark 09:35, the viewer is introduced to the beginning of the air war as German planes take flight, conducting reconnaissance missions of Polish troop movements and targeting undefended sectors by German fighter planes and bombers. “Wave after wave of destructive aircraft leave the field” at mark 11:25 in preparation for an eventual ground assault. An aerial view beginning at mark 12:00 shows the devastation falling upon another Polish city.

Mark 14:20 takes the viewer to the Siege of Warsaw on September 8, 1939, as the entrenched Polish Warsaw Army defended the city against the invading Germans. The siege began aerial bombardments by the Luftwaffe followed by armored units. The siege lasted until the Poles surrendered on September 27. “In less than 30 days, Poland has fallen,” the viewer is told.

The point is driven home by footage of burning buildings, towns left in ruins, and trains and vehicles strewn about the streets as the Germans take control. The film begins to draw to a close as, at mark 19:19, a German military band plays on as Nazi troops march through the streets of Warsaw.

Yet there is one last comment from the film’s narrator.

“The world was permitted to view this display of military pomp and expected to bow before Germany’s might. But the events in years following Poland’s setback were to tell another story. The Allies are fighting to prove that these goose-stepping legions are not supermen. The events of September 1939 shall never happen again.”