Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World war 2 photos Poland army WW2 Germany invasion photographs Adolf Hitler

Extraordinary unseen photos taken on the eve of World War 2 Tue, September 26, 2017 The pictures were taken by pre-war photographer Henryk Poddebski. The pictures are unique because they show the Polish cavalry, tank units, airforce and combat engineers on the eve of WW2 breaking out. They are historically important because they have never been seen by the public, before or after the war broke out Play slideshow Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Swiatowej 1 of 14 Polish soldiers enjoying a meal at a military training ground

Over 260 photographs taken in the summer of 1939, have gone on display at the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, Poland. The unique photographs taken by pre-war photographer Henryk Poddębski, show key elements of the Polish army participating in war-manoeuvres just weeks before Hitler invaded. Karol Nawrocki, head of the museum, said: “The photographs that make up Mr Poddębski’s exhibition, show an army which we will never see again. “An army, which led a heroic fight from September 1 1939, was defeated and driven all across Europe’s fronts to fight for a free Europe, a unified and democratic Europe and a strong and independent Poland.”

Hitler’s Germany invaded Poland on the morning of September 1, 1939, under the false pretence of Polish sabotage actions along the border. Two days later Britain joined the fight, declaring war on Germany. What followed was the valiant but unsuccessful September Campaign to drive out the aggressors. On September 17, Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union from the east and the country was brought down to its knees on September 27. Photographer Mr Poddębski first came to prominence for his landscape and photo-journalistic work in the 1930s with the German-made Leica camera.

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: The photos of the Polish army were taken just weeks before Hitler's invasion

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: The photo negatives survived the devastating conflict

It is likely he was one of several photographers commissioned to document the war games by the Polish Armed Forces Ministry. Sadly the photographer died in 1945 at the German Veihingen concentration camp. The museum’s historians assume the photographs have remained a secret for nearly 80 years, because Mr Poddębski never had the chance to get them developed before the war broke out. Miraculously the negatives survived a raging fire in the tragic 1944 Warsaw Uprising, when the Germans systematically reduced the city to rubble.

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: Photographer Henryk Poddebski was commissioned to document the armed forces

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: Photographer Henryk Poddebski died in a German concentration camp in 1945

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: The photographs are invaluable to historians studying the September Campaign

They were then bought by the museum from Mr Poddębski's daughter Krystyna Kukieła in 2014. And the unearthed pre-war photographs hold a significant historical value, because they debunk several myths about the Polish army in 1939, claimed a museum expert. Marcin Westphal, argued the photos challenge the widely held assumption that the Polish army was undermanned and ill equipped for war. He said: “The photos also debunk the myth of the Polish cavalry, which claims it attacked German panzer divisions with lances and sabres.

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: The photo negatives survived the fires of the Warsaw Uprising

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: Mr Poddebski likely never had the time to develop them before the war broke out

“You can clearly see on the photographs that the horses were used by the cavalry only as a means of transport, and that they used machine-guns for combat.”

The photographs that make up Mr Poddębski’s exhibition, show an army that we will never see again Karol Nawrocki, World War 2 Museum in Gdańsk

The photographs have been praised for their preserved quality and attention to detail achieved by the famed photographer. One of the more stunning photographs on display shows a heavily armed cavalry unit charging across a field in an exercise drill. And other pictures show a group of smiling soldiers huddled around a Vickers tank, in what appears to be a moment of quiet downtime in the summer sun. In another a group of soldiers were snapped resting on the side of ditch, helping themselves to a meal.

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: Historians argue that the photos debunk myths about the pre-war Polish army

Zbiory Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku World War 2: The photos will remain at the museum until March 15, 2018