The beginning of World War II (1938-1939)

Germans destroying road signs and markers on the border with Czechoslovakia in the Sudetenland in 1938. Map of the capture of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany.

Preparing a German bomber for takeoff, inscription on the side of the bomber.

The navigator's workstation in the cockpit.

View of part of Polish territory (top).

Air gunner in the cockpit.

The propeller is turning.

Dropping bombs on a Polish settlement in September 1939. Views of a settlement during an air raid (top), planes dropping bombs.

Views of destroyed and burning city blocks (above, pilot in the cockpit of a German plane.

Views of burning military columns on the roads and destroyed railway bridges (above).

Panorama and views of parts of a destroyed bridge.

A Polish locomotive is smashed on the tracks.

Hitler in the cabin of the plane.

Views of a burning settlement (above), Hitler in the cabin of the plane looking out the window.

A German machine gunner is firing.

Panorama of a burning city.

German spotters at a stereoscopic telescope.

A machine gunner is firing.

View of a burning oil storage facility.

Soldiers from one of the columns greet Hitler as he drives by in a car.

Hitler and the military accompanying him during a visit to one of the Wehrmacht units, Hitler takes a sample in a field kitchen.

A German signalman at a field telephone switchboard.

Goering, Himmler among German generals in a staff car during the development of the next operation.

Goering, Himmler and Hitler in a staff car discuss further actions with the military.

Staff Clerks at typewriters.

A general reports the combat situation to Hitler on a map.

Hitler and the military analyze the current situation on the map.

A German supply train on the road.

A Polish cavalryman surrenders.

Small arms and machine guns of the Polish army, taken as trophies.

Collection of captured ammunition.

Polish artillery systems and military equipment taken by the Germans as trophies.

Captured Polish infantrymen surrender their weapons and equipment.

Stacks of Polish rifles taken by the Germans as trophies.

Panorama of a Polish horse-drawn military supply train captured by the Germans, faces of Polish prisoners.

Panorama of a column of Polish prisoners of war moving along the road.

Columns of prisoners of war on the roads of Poland.

Map of the Western Front in 1939-1940. German tanks and armored vehicles move along the roads of France in 1940, soldiers on the armor of tanks.

A Wehrmacht unit at a halt.

Officers near a tank.

Putting out a fire.

View of part of the building of a medieval cathedral damaged as a result of an air raid.

The interior of the half-ruined cathedral.

A Wehrmacht unit marches along the road, local residents greet German soldiers.

German motorcyclists pass through an abandoned checkpoint.

Columns of German armored vehicles and artillery enter the city.

Views of Belgian territory, German paratroopers in an airplane.

Paratroopers leave the airplane.

Landing paratroopers.

Part of the map of Holland.

German sappers clear the road for the movement of columns deep into Holland.

German troops enter the territory of Holland.

Tanks overcome roadblocks.

German infantry in a field.

View of a destroyed bridge.

A Wehrmacht military engineering unit on the march, a truck with soldiers in the back passes.

German sappers cross a river on inflatable boats near a destroyed bridge.

German soldiers on bicycles on the streets of Dutch cities.

A Wehrmacht unit fights for a bridge.

A tank moves across the bridge.

Wehrmacht units move along the roads.

Dutch envoys go with a white flag to negotiate surrender.

Negotiations with Dutch officers.

German staff officers work with maps.

French soldiers go to surrender.

View of part of a column of French prisoners of war.