This 1933 short film, “A Flying Visit to Poland,” produced by the Gdynia-America Line, gives an overview of visiting Poland, touching on many of Poland’s places of interest. The film begins in Krakow (or Kracow) with ancient city’s highlights: the Trumpeter of Krakow (01:00); St. Mary’s Church (01:17); the Wawel, a national shrine also referred to as Poland’s tower of London (01:23); the old cobbled streets of Krakow (01:27); the Barbican, Krakow’s old circular fort (01:34); and an ancient chapel carved out of salt at the entrance of the Wieliczka salt mines (1:40). The next stop on the tour is Katowice (02:05), an industrial city dubbed the Pittsburg of Poland. With its massive iron and steel industry (02:10), it provides the steel needed to build Poland’s own railroad equipment and locomotives (02:25), as well as Poland’s own bridges (02:33). Coal is another major resource harvested from Katowice and the larger Silesian province (02:40). Lumber is another major resource of Poland, and lumberjacks chop trees down (03:12) and then floated downriver (03:29) to Gdansk and Gdynia for export; Poland is also an oil producer (03:40). The film then turns to coastal city of Gdynia (03:59). The city quickly grew into a modern city with its massive harbor (04:14). The film’s next stop is Czestochowa (04:35), home to the famous Jasna Gora monastery and its international religious procession celebrating the feast day of Our Lady of Czestochowa (04:41). Religious processions occur all over, such as in Lowicz, complete with the national costumes of Poland (05:02). The film then looks at rural society (05:28), dominated by agriculture. Farmers grow and harvest a number of different crops and, accordingly, celebrate the Harvest Festival (05:48). Part of that entails presenting part of the harvest to President Ignacy Moscicki (05:55). The film then shows a traditional wedding ceremony with Polish customs (06:10), followed by traditional Polish dancing (06:55). The viewer is then taken to Warsaw (07:28), home to the Opera House in Theatre Square (07:44), the Prince Poniatowski Bridge (08:00), Czapski Palace featuring the statue of Prince Joseph Poniatowski (08:05), the building of the Ministry of Industry (08:12), the modern architecture of the Polish Printing Office (08:19), the Aviator’s Monument (08:26), and the birthplace of Frederic Chopan (08:37). Next is a trip to Starego Miasta, Warsaw’s medieval marketplace, for a visit to Fukier, Europe’s oldest wine shop and one of the most famous (08:45). Fukier is home to thousands of bottles of wine and vintages that are several centuries old. Next is a stop at the celebrations of the 250th Anniversary of John Sobieski’s victory over the Ottomans at the 1683 Battle of Vienna (09:27), complete with presentations of Poland’s army. Marshal Jozef Pilsudski presides over the festivities (09:54), before returning to Belveder Palace (10:06) where Pilsudski is greeted by children who celebrate his contribution to the creation of modern Poland.
