“1940”, “Feldzug in Polen”, “(The Baptism of Fire)”, “The German army and the German air-force no longer profess to serve the cause of peace. Austria, Czechoslovakia are no more. As the Nazi machine of war smashes into Poland, the motion-picture camera follows-apparently with the same technicians as made THE TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. This film was shown, shortly after, to the governments of Rumania and of Denmark. The present version in English was likewise made in Germany.” B+W, Sound,

Made by German filmmaker Hans Bertram, BAPTISM OF FIRE shows some o the events leading up to the German invasion of Poland, and was shown to the governments of Denmark and Rumania in order to convince them to surrender peacefully and avoid the fate of Danzig and Warsaw. This extract, translated into English, was released by the Office of Strategic Services. The OSS, America’s predecessor to the CIA, apparently created the film in order to show the deceitful actions of Hitler and his regime and give some insight to the military staffers who would see it.

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