SEPTEMBER 1939 – ÜBERFALL AUF POLEN

“Close your hearts to pity. Brutal action”: these were the demands of Adolf Hitler, a few days before the attack, in a speech to the Commander in Chief of the German Armed Forces and the SS. Their course of action against both the Polish army, Goliath against David, and the country's civilians was planned from the outset as a finale: “The citizens of Eastern Europe must tremble with fear.” The press in Germany meanwhile, on Goebbels' instructions, flamed resentment of the “Polish economy”, an expression which remains a pejorative stereotype to this day.

This collage combines archival footage of combat operations, bombing raids and shootings with facts that to date have been largely suppressed, such as the collaboration between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union over the division of Poland, which had already been agreed upon before the war began, as well as “Operation Tannenberg”, the latter aimed at eliminating the Polish elite. BB