Warsaw and Danzig, Poland, destruction and rebuilding circa 1946

Warsaw and Danzig, Poland, destruction and rebuilding circa 1946 

Warsaw and Danzig, Poland, destruction and rebuilding circa 1946 

Bombed out multi-story YMCA building in Warsaw, Poland. Several workers chip away at the concrete structure, others collect and stack bricks from the rubble. Another worker examines window frames for damage. (This footage likely dates to 1946 - see notes section for further information). MS, low angle, a man and a woman walk down a bombed out street in Warsaw, toward the camera, snow covers the ground. VS of the destruction in the city, civilians mill about the streets, with torn, threadbare clothing, there are some Polish military personnel in these shots as well. Poles board a street car, young children purchase flowers from a street vendor. INT: men and boys inside what seems to be YMCA club-they are in a café, reading newspapers in English and Polish, and drinking. EXT: low angle a view of the bombed out Deutsche Bank building. The camera pans the sign, and then cuts to another building, also damaged. EXT: the locations shifts to Danzig: where we see more destruction of that city, along the canals, etc. CU of a bombed out building in Danzig with German signage above the entrance. Scenes at the port in Danzig they echo Julien Bryan's 1937 footage shot in this city, however now the entire port is in ruins. The banks along the canal are crumbling. INT: Young Polish boys play checkers at a shelter/community center in Warsaw and read"Zycwe Warszaw", CU on checkerboard with pawns in play. The boys compare stories in the newspapers; the camera focuses on a political cartoon of a man with a caption underneath him that reads:"Pacifist". Three boys put a puzzle together in the corner of a room, seated at a round wooden table. Scene quickly cuts to INT, high angle, a warehouse that is storing UNRRA supplies. Two men go through wooden crates and hand out clothing and home supplies to women and children. INT: boys playing board games and pool. INT: young women are lead in a series of calisthenics in a large gymnasium. The instructor is male. VS, close-ups on the various young women as they perform their exercise routine.