The Jan Karski Institute of War Losses has donated two unique collections of photographs from the early months of the Second World War to the New Records Archive – visual testimonies taken not by the victims, but by those who carried out the aggression. This is a rare and moving record of the events of 1939, seen from the perspective of German soldiers who took part in the armed invasion of Poland.

The first of the collections belonged to a Wehrmacht soldier who took part in the campaign against Poland (September–October 1939) and subsequently in the offensive against France and the Benelux countries (May–June 1940). As a member of an 81 mm mortar crew, he documented the successive stages of the war, compiling a carefully curated album. The photographs include, amongst others, Warsaw under heavy artillery fire, the strategic infrastructure of Radiowa Street, and the German victory parade in Aleje Ujazdowskie on 5 October 1939. These photographs not only record events – they also reveal how they were perceived by the perpetrators.

The second collection is a memento of a member of the Reichsarbeitsdienst – the Reich Labour Service, a unit providing logistical support to the Wehrmacht. The album was created during the invasion of Poland from Slovakia, which was then a satellite state of the Third Reich. The surviving photographs depict, amongst other places, Limanowa, Nowy Sącz and Krosno – towns captured at a dramatic turning point in their history.

Both collections belong to the so-called feldzugs – photographic chronicles of military campaigns, accompanied by the authors’ descriptions and comments. Their tradition dates back to the Franco-Prussian War. Alongside diaries, newsreels and propaganda productions – such as the 1940 ‘Feldzug in Polen’ – they constituted a form of documenting military operations, sometimes compared to the ancient diaries of the early Roman Empire.

In total, nearly 250 photographs constitute a unique source material that allows us to view the 1939 invasion from a different, challenging perspective. Thanks to the donation of the collection by the Jan Karski Institute of War Losses, this documentation has been incorporated into the New Records Archive and made available to researchers.

These are not merely archival records – they offer a glimpse into the aggressor’s perspective, which can now be subjected to critical analysis.

The Institute encourages historians and anyone interested in the history of the Second World War to consult the material in person at the New Records Archive.