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Das war der Krieg in Polen (That was the War in Poland) is subtitled "A Documentary Account of the Achievements and Battles" is a seldom seen Nazi book put together by Rolf Heller. It has 131 original photos, ten battle maps. Many of the photos in this 6-¼ x 9-3/8 inch, 112-page hardcover Nazi publication are not found in other Third Reich photo books on the 1939 Wehrmacht invasion and victory in Poland.

The text starts with an explanation of the last (diplomatic) phase of the German-Polish conflict, communications between French Prime Minister Daladier and Adolf Hitler, the situation of the Free State of Danzig, and Adolf Hitler's call to the Wehrmacht on 1 September 1939.

Then there are war progress reports on the German military assault in Poland accompanied by detailed maps of the day-by-day progress from 1 September through 6 October 1939. Wehrmacht casualties as of 30 September 1939 are shown as 10,572 German deaths, 30,322 wounded and 3409 missing in action.

The second half of Das war der Krieg in Polen consists of photo pages on glossy paper. The first photo is one of a well-known series of pictures to most people with an interest in World War II; Hitler announcing war in front of Parliament in Berlin on 1 September 1939. However, other photos are much more obscure - battle damage, Polish Jews and Volksdeutschen (ethnic Germans in Poland), the machine gun in a Luftwaffe airplane, ethnic Germans murdered during the "Bromberg Massacre", the destruction of the Polish Air Force, Hitler with Erwin Rommel and other Nazi Officers in the field, misleading foreign press reports about the war in Poland, German cavalry troops, German soldiers reading their Feldpost, aerial photos of Nazi tanks and motorized artillery troops, Admiral Raeder inspecting Kriegsmarine sailors, the announcement of the death of Generaloberst Freiherr von Fritsch by Generaloberst von Brauchitsch, Nazi Army soldiers interacting with Polish children and the ethnic German population, Polish POWs, Hitler eating with Officers at a Wehrmacht field kitchen, Wehrmacht Pioniere rebuilding destroyed bridges, German and Russian representatives discussing the demarcation border, Hitler in Danzig and Warsaw, and more.

There are also three full pages of portraits of National Socialist cabinet members (Goering, Hess, Frick, Funk, Lammers, Forster, Dr. Frank), Wehrmacht Generals and high-ranking officers as well as foreign English and Polish leaders.

The original 12 x 19 inch fold-out map inside the back cover of Das war der Krieg in Polen (above) shows the "Former Poland" with the new demarcation line and the German - Russian border marked in red (the Soviet Union ended up with about three-fifths of Poland and 13 million of its people as a result of their September 1939 invasion).

Published by Verlag F. W. Peters, this Nazi photo book does not list a publication date, but we suspect it to be 1940. This 79 year old hardcover example of Das war der Krieg in Polen is in nice used condition, complete with the frequently missing fold-out map which is also in very nice condition.   No odor.