295 - Inside the Siege of Warsaw
Sun Feb 08 2026
In September 1939, during the German invasion of Poland, American photographer and film-maker Julien Bryan became the only foreign journalist to remain inside Warsaw during the Nazi siege. While other correspondents fled, Bryan stayed in the city, documenting the Siege of Warsaw from the streets, hospitals and civilian shelters as German bombs fell.
Bryan's photographs and film captured the impact of the Second World War on civilians, showing wounded men, women and children, devastated neighbourhoods, and the resilience of ordinary Polish people under attack. His footage became some of the first uncensored images of Nazi aggression shown in the United States and Western Europe, shaping how the war in Poland was understood abroad.
In this episode of the WW2 Podcast, I am joined by historian Pete Zablocki, host of the History Shorts Podcast and author of a recent article on Julien Bryan for WWII History Magazine. We explore why Bryan chose to stay in Warsaw, how he worked under constant danger, how his photographs and film escaped occupied Poland, and why his record of the 1939 Siege of Warsaw remains historically vital today.
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In September 1939, during the German invasion of Poland, American photographer and film-maker Julien Bryan became the only foreign journalist to remain inside Warsaw during the Nazi siege. While other correspondents fled, Bryan stayed in the city, documenting the Siege of Warsaw from the streets, hospitals and civilian shelters as German bombs fell. Bryan's photographs and film captured the impact of the Second World War on civilians, showing wounded men, women and children, devastated neighbourhoods, and the resilience of ordinary Polish people under attack. His footage became some of the first uncensored images of Nazi aggression shown in the United States and Western Europe, shaping how the war in Poland was understood abroad. In this episode of the WW2 Podcast, I am joined by historian Pete Zablocki, host of the History Shorts Podcast and author of a recent article on Julien Bryan for WWII History Magazine. We explore why Bryan chose to stay in Warsaw, how he worked under constant danger, how his photographs and film escaped occupied Poland, and why his record of the 1939 Siege of Warsaw remains historically vital today. patreon.com/ww2podcast