Sovinfilm - The Unknown War Set 2 (1978) Part 6 The Liberation of Poland

The Unknown War is a landmark television documentary series about the Soviet struggle against — and ultimate victory over — the Nazi war machine. June 22, 1941. The most explosive war in the history of mankind erupted with savage suddenness when 4,200,000 elite Nazi troops crashed into Russia over a frontier 1,800 miles long. “The Unknown War” had begun, the incredible war between Hitler's Germany and the Soviet Union. Here were the greatest battles of World War II, the most unbelievable agonies and devastating human losses that the modern world has ever seen. By war's end the toll would be more than 30,000,000 lives. Here was the battle of Moscow; the 900-day siege of Leningrad; the battle of Kursk, the largest armored conflict, with over 6,000 tanks in action; the battle of Stalingrad, which broke the back of the German army; the fall of Berlin. Now a landmark series of 20 one-hour historical documentary war films including never-before-released footage from the Soviet archives. Hosted and narrated by Academy Award–winner Burt Lancaster, this sprawling series features rare and stunning footage recorded by Soviet camera crews on the front lines, most of it unseen since its original broadcast 30 years ago. From the June 22, 1941, invasion of the Soviet Union to the Russians' victorious march into Berlin in 1945, the devastating battles in the air, at sea and on land are detailed with astonishing images. These stories of heroism, savagery and suffering from what the Russians call “The Great Patriotic War” will shed new light on the Red Army's massive contribution to the Allies' defeat of Hitler in World War II. A Soviet-American collaboration produced in 1978 — during the throes of the Cold War — the 20-part saga was pulled from the air in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Its reemergence should be heralded as an essential addition to the recorded history of World War II. Film footage from Soviet archives comprises a major portion of the series, supplemented by film from both the United States and British archives.

Part 6 The Liberation of Poland

Situated in central Europe, Poland was a geographical corridor for invasion and war. During World War II Poland suffered enormously; six million Poles lost their lives. In 1939 Warsaw radio played “Polonaise,” a paradoxical classical dance melody, to plea for assistance to repel the Nazi invaders, two million strong. In 1943 and 1944 Warsaw again saw destruction, suffering and death during events of tragic circumstance. Even after Berlin fell to the Allies, Poles continued to die, but in 1945 the Soviet armies forced the Nazis from Polish land.

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Episode One Shown Here