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Gallery

From the Museum’s Collections

  • Siege Siege

    In September 1939, American filmmaker Julien Bryan spent two weeks in and around Warsaw documenting the devastating impact that the German invasion of September 1 had on Poland. His short film Siege was released in 1940. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Julien Bryan Archive

  • Digging Anti-Tank Ditches Digging Anti-Tank Ditches

    In August 1939, Catholic and Jewish youth took a break from digging anti-tank ditches to pose for a photographer in Oswiecim, Poland. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w Oświęcimiu

  • Dawid Sierakowiak Diary Entry Dawid Sierakowiak Diary Entry

    Entry dated August 31, 1939, from the diary of Dawid Sierakowiak. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • Anna Wajcblum Heilman Interview Anna Wajcblum Heilman Interview

    Anna Wajcblum Heilman remembers the beginning of World War II. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • Chaim Kaplan Diary Entry Chaim Kaplan Diary Entry

    Entry dated September 1, 1939, from the diary of Chaim Kaplan. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • Leo Schneiderman Interview Leo Schneiderman Interview

    Leo Schneiderman remembers the beginning of World War II. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • Marjan Glass’s Pants Marjan Glass’s Pants

    On September 7, 1939, Marjan Glass was wearing these pants while digging ditches in Warsaw to defend the city against the German invasion. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Wanda Glass

  • George Salton Interview George Salton Interview

    George Salton remembers the Germans’ arrival in his hometown. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • Warsaw Residents Dig Defenses Warsaw Residents Dig Defenses

    Residents of Warsaw dug ditches to slow the advance of German tanks in September 1939. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Julien Bryan Archive

  • Leonard Zawacki Interview Leonard Zawacki Interview

    Leonard Zawacki remembers his capture by an ethnic German “Self-Defense” unit. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • Damaged Family Photo Damaged Family Photo

    Masza Swislocki (back, left) retrieved this charred photo, along with other belongings, from her home in Warsaw after it was destroyed during the German bombing. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Norbert Swislocki

  • Refugee’s Knapsack Refugee’s Knapsack

    In October 1939, Rys Berkowicz used this knapsack to carry her belongings as she left Warsaw. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Ruth Berkowicz Segal

  • Execution of Father Piotr Sosnowski Execution of Father Piotr Sosnowski

    Under SS command, ethnic Germans—members of a Selbstchutz (“Self-Defense”) unit—executed Piotr Sosnowski, a priest, in the Tuchola forest on October 27, 1939. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Instytut Pamięci Narodowej