Edward Smigly-Rydz becomes Field Marshall 1936

Identifier
irn1003551
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2003.214
  • RG-60.4016
Dates
1 Jan 1936 - 31 Dec 1936, 1 Jan 1937 - 31 Dec 1937
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Silent
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Julien Hequembourg Bryan (1899-1974) was an American documentarian and filmmaker. Bryan traveled widely taking 35mm film that he sold to motion picture companies. In the 1930s, he conducted extensive lecture tours, during which he showed film footage he shot in the former USSR. Between 1935 and 1938, he captured unique records of ordinary people and life in Nazi Germany and in Poland, including Jewish areas of Warsaw and Krakow and anti-Jewish signs in Germany. His footage appeared in March of Time theatrical newsreels. His photographs appeared in Life Magazine. He was in Warsaw in September 1939 when Germany invaded and remained throughout the German siege of the city, photographing and filming what would become America's first cinematic glimpse of the start of WWII. He recorded this experience in both the book Siege (New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1940) and the short film Siege (RKO Radio Pictures, 1940) nominated for an Academy Award in 1940. In 1946, Bryan photographed the efforts of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency in postwar Europe.

Eugene Cenkalski was a screenwriter and director. During the war, Cenkalski worked for the Polish government in England and the United States, producing and editing war film for Poland. After the war, he and his wife Christina settled In Lodz and collaborated on rebuilding the Polish film industry. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1209418.pdf

According to Jan Karski in "The Great Powers & Poland 1919-1945": "On May 12, 1936, General Smigly-Rydz was appointed commander-in- chief by the president of the republic. Two months later, on July 13, he was designated by government decree as the "First Person in Poland after the President of the Republic," and state functionaries were ordered to "honor him and obey." November 11, 1936, he was made marshal. From then on, he assumed the role of the national leader more and more obviously. His position made the army completely autonomous, free from any public control." In 1937, Marshall Smigly-Ridz was being hailed as the man who would lead the Poles to victory over Germany. Edward Rydz Smygly [sic] appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, September 11, 1939.

Scope and Content

At 01:14:04:02 LS, a large group of civilians walking around on a field, there are Polish military regiments lined up along the field as well-buildings are visible in the distance. All the regiments were rounding up on the field and then marching from the field through the town. MCU of the regiments in full dress marching through the streets, traveling shot, slightly out of focus. At 01:14:34:02 cut to MS of Field Marshall Edward Smigly-Rydz at the reviewing stand with other dignitaries, everyone is wearing top coats and top hats, or military dress gear. 01:14:50:13 The parade review stand, dignitaries, both military and civilian, hob-knob with each other at the review stand, high ranking Catholic church officials are in attendance, particularly Cardinal August Hlond, the Prelate of Poland, known for making antisemitic pronouncements, who called for a boycott of Jewish shops in Poland as early as 1935, after the death of Jozef Pilsudski.

Note(s)

  • Detailed preservation notes from the film lab are available in Film and Video department files. Additional photographs are available in the USHMM Photo Archives.

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.