Prelude to war in Poland; Polish army; Smigly-Rydz

HAS, Polish army parading through the streets of Warsaw, the cannons are drawn by horses, tanks roll by, men sweeping debris, motorcycle troops: this is a sign/prelude to war. Massive crowds line the parade route. LS, a large number of civilians walking around on a field, there are Polish military regiments lined up along the field, buildings are visible in the distance. All the regiments were rounded up on the field and then marched from the field through Warsaw. MS of dignitaries at the reviewing stand, everyone is wearing top hats, including President Moscicki. HAS, military parade. The parade review stand, dignitaries, both military and civilian, hob-knob with each other, salute and review the marching troops, etc. Good profile shot of Field Marshall Edward Smigly-Rydz, he is flanked by the President and the Catholic official Cardinal Hlond. Soldiers marching. Crowd of young women in traditional dress lining the parade route. A woman is selling flags with the eagle crest insignia of Poland. More regiments march by the review stand while officers salute. Tracking shot of soldiers parading. Polish planes fly over Warsaw as part of the ceremonies. A courtyard, Polish dignitaries and soldiers in uniform, flags, people assembling. Cameramen document Marshall Smigly-Rydz (in profile). HAS, two men walk on the red carpet in the courtyard. Troops waiting to begin the ceremony, then entering the courtyard with rows of chairs set up for the event, reviewed by President Moscicki. MCU he tips his hat to the Field Marshall, looks very stern, does not smile. Soldiers stand at attention. Ceremony continues in the courtyard with President Moscicki, there is a bust of Pilsudski on a pedestal on the red carpet. VAR HAS of the ceremony, with motion picture and still cameramen running around to catch every angle. Photo of Polish leader displayed in shop window next to shoes. Polish cavalry crosses a stream, snowy field. HAS of the ceremony in the courtyard. MS of another shop window displaying proudly military regalia and photos of Polish leaders. Several additional shots of the ceremony with Polish troops being reviewed and marching, the arrival of Smigly-Rydz, and President Moscicki speaking. WS, official building in Warsaw. Soldiers in courtyard. Planes flying overhead. Several additional shots of the ceremony. CU, Smigly-Rydz with scepter shakes hands with another officer. 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. 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. August Cardinal Hlond, the head of the Polish Catholic Church, called for discrimination against Polish Jews unless they converted to Catholicism. Thought to be less antisemitic than many Polish clergymen, Hlond's pastoral letter blasting the Jews for their "harmful morality" revealed the growing influence of Nazi ideology in Poland. Church-sanctioned anti-Jewish policy undermined the tenuous position of Polish Jewry and exacerbated tensions between Jews and Gentiles. Cardinal August Hlond, the Prelate of Poland, was known for making antisemitic pronouncements. He called for a boycott of Jewish shops in Poland as early as 1935 after the death of Jozef Pilsudski.