The Second Polish Republic is a traditional name for the Polish state that existed after Poland regained its independence in 1918. In the minds of many Poles, the Second Republic ceased to exist with the German invasion of 1939. Historians, on the other hand, believe that it happened only in 1945, when World War II and the German occupation came to an end, the victorious allies changed the Polish borders, and the communists took power in the country. Today, there is a feeling that the Second Republic is a different, lost world, with which Poles have lost connection. Preserved newsreels remind us of everyday life in those times. We invite you to watch short recordings, which show what occupied Poles in the late 1930s in the shadow of the imminent invasion of Nazi Germany. The materials, in Polish with German subtitles, are available courtesy of the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute, and were selected by Dr. Martin Faber of the Albrecht-Ludwig University in Freiburg.
Life in the Second Polish Republic
Sources and Studies Second Polish Republic 1918–1939 Life in the Second Polish Republic
In his introductory text, Dr Martin Faber explains the role of archival newsreels in learning about the past and the importance of making them available to foreign researchers by developing foreign-language subtitles for them.
The material shows the traditional procession in Gniezno with participation of the Primate of Poland, taking place annually on the day of St. Adalbert, the missionary of Prussia and patron saint of Poland. In 1000, the German Emperor Otto III made a pilgrimage to Gniezno to see the relics of the saint, which resulted in establishing there the first Polish archbishopric.
This short video shows the triplet bears playing in the Warsaw Zoo.
The footage shows a crowded indulgence feast in Budslav near Vilnius (then in Poland, today in Lithuania): a solemn procession and a meeting of participants with the governor of the Vilnius region. In 2018, the feast was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List.
The footage shows one of children’s reading rooms in Warsaw.
This short footage shows fragments of exercises performed by the Volunteer Mountain Rescue Service.
The footage shows excerpts from a Polish American community tour of the 17th century palace and park complex of the Polish King Jan III Sobieski in Warsaw’s Wilanów district.
The footage shows the ceremonial opening of the exhibition in the Polish model village of Lisków, located in central Poland.
On 5 June 1938, a Lockheed Super Electra airplane bought by LOT Polish Airlines covered a record distance of 24,850 km over the Atlantic on its way from the factory in Burbank, California, to Warsaw. The purchase of ten of such planes was a powerful accent in the propaganda campaign of the Polish authorities. The footage shows the plane crew being welcomed at the Warsaw airport.
The footage shows the celebration of the Maritime Days organised annually in Gdynia by the Maritime and Colonial League (Liga Morska and Kolonialna). Participants of the event had the opportunity to contribute to the expansion of the Polish naval fleet by donating to the Maritime Defence Fund (Fundusz Ochrony Morskiej).
The footage shows a meeting of children from the Polesie region with Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, the Polish commander-in-chief, and their reception by the Polish Red Cross in one of Warsaw cafés. The children arrived to deliver an invitation to the ceremonial handing over of weapons purchased by the population of Polesie to the troops stationed in the garrison in Próżany in eastern Poland.
The footage covers the handing over of two aircraft to the Polish army by the management of the joint-stock company Natural Gas (Gazy Ziemne) in Lviv (then in Poland, today in Ukraine). After a ceremonial acceptance of the equipment by representatives of the military command at the airport in Sknilov (Skniłów) near Lviv, the donated machines were presented in an air parade.
The footage shows the national meeting of war veterans people in Kraków, inaugurated by a service in St Mary’s Square. The celebration culminated in a procession to the Wawel Royal Castle, where participants paid homage to the ashes of Marshal Józef Piłsudski.
The Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, one of the biggest and finest in Poland, moves to a new building, specially prepared for preservation of old prints, books and manuscripts.
A brief account of the women’s summer camp in the village of Zembrzyce in southern Poland shows excerpts from the entertainment and sports activities, including gymnastic exercises and dance classes in traditional folk costumes.
The report shows children playing in a Jordan Garden in Warsaw, a complex for games built on the initiative of the local Childcare Committee. Places of this type, established in various Polish cities, took their name from their originator Tadeusz Jordan, a Kraków doctor and social activist.
The footage shows a pilgrimage of the MPs from the Camp of National Unity (Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego) to the historic Jasna Góra Monastery in the city of Częstochowa in southern Poland. The politicians hang a votive offering under the holy image of the Black Madonna.
In 1936, the Polish government began building of the Central Industrial District in southern Poland. The industrialisation project was meant not only to further develop the Polish army in the times of the constant militarisation of Europe, but also to create infrastructure facilitating the re-integration of the Polish regions that before 1918 had been parts of three empires: Prussian, Russian, and Austrian.
The constitution adopted by the parliament on 3 May 1791 was an impressive but belated attempt to introduce reforms aimed at saving the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from collapse. To commemorate the constitution, the third day of May is a public holiday in today’s Poland, as it was in the interwar period. At that time, it was also an occasion for the nation to manifest its sympathy towards the Polish army. The footage depicts the preparations for official celebrations in 1939 and a military parade in Warsaw.
On the anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, workers of the southern plants of the Central Industrial Region donated new howitzers to the representatives of the Polish Army during a formal ceremony. The artillery guns were entirely made in Poland from Polish resources.
Each year, on 3 May, the city of Katowice celebrated the anniversary of the outbreak of the Third Silesian Uprising against the German rule in 1921. The footage presents fragments of a parade commemorating those events and attended by representatives of the Polish army and civillians.
The footage shows the Gdynia shipyard and the interior of a Polish transatlantic motorship Chrobry, which together with MS Batory, MS Piłsudski and MS Sobieski was supposed to sail between Gdynia and the ports of South America. Commissioned in 1939, Chrobry completed only half of a regular cruise before the outbreak of the World War II.
The footage shows the daily operation of the Polish Baltic ports in Gdańsk (Danzig) and Gdynia, highlighting the importance of access to the sea for the Second Polish Republic. The material was broadcast in Poland in May 1939 in the context of a dispute between Poland and the Nazi leadership of Germany over the Free City of Danzig.
“Peace, like almost all things of this world, has its price, a high but a measurable one. We in Poland do not know the concept of peace at any price.” These historic words delivered by the Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck on 5 May 1939 were a response to the demand of the Nazi Germany that the Free City of Danzig be incorporated into the Third Reich. The refusal of the Polish government became one of the pretexts of Germany’s aggression against Poland on 1 September 1939 and the consequent outbreak of the Second World War.
Report on the ceremonial handing over to the Polish army of military equipment purchased by schoolchildren from Warsaw and the Zaolzie region. The weapons were received by Edward Rydz-Śmigły, the marshal and commander-in-chief of Poland, who expressed his gratitude to the children with the words, “Every bit of Polish land you find yourselves on is a bit that we had to fight for.”
On 15 July 1939, the Polish Western Union (Polski Związek Zachodni) organized celebrations in Kraków to commemorate the anniversary of the memorable victory of the Polish-Lithuanian forces over the German Teutonic Order at Grunwald in 1410. The footage shows delegations of state dignitaries and laying of wreaths at the Grunwald Monument.
The people of a small town of Szamotuły in western Poland raise funds to donate military equipment to the Polish Army. The footage presents the ceremonial handing over of the equipment on the market square, an act of unity of the Polish nation on the eve of the outbreak of World War II.
The footage shows one of the holiday centres for workers, which in the late 1930s were opened all over Poland on the initiative of the Camp of National Union (Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego), affiliated with the Polish government. The film shows, among others, workers attending gym classes, sightseeing and reading in the open air.
On 6 August 1914, the 1st Cadre Company began the Polish struggle for national liberation. This act is commemorated by a monument to the soldiers of Józef Piłsudski’s Legions in Kielce, and a national convention under the slogan “Poland on the Track of Józef Piłsudski” was held in Kraków to mark its twenty-fifth anniversary.
“There is no power that could convince us that the word ‘peace’ means ‘take’ for some and ‘give’ for others” – said the Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły at a nationwide rally called “Poland on the Trail of Józef Piłsudski,” held in Kraków on 6 August 1939. The event marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of Poland’s military national liberation movement. The footage commemorates key parts of the solemn celebration, including the singing of the national anthem.
This short documentary presents the everyday life of cadets in the military camp in Wielkie Dwory Baranowickie, in the-then eastern Poland (today in Belarus). The cadets participate in field exercises, camp out in tents and enjoy baths in the nearby lake.
The footage shows excerpts from exercises held by the Polish navy both in ports and on the open sea. The official beginning of the exercises is covered as well as the presentation of the military equipment.
The footage shows fragments of anti-aircraft defence exercises held in the summer of 1939. Sounding devices for detection of approaching enemy aircraft, giant searchlights to illuminate hostile planes and batteries ready to shoot them down were deployed all over Poland.
