Page "Leni Riefenstahl" Paragraph 23

During the Invasion of Poland, Riefenstahl was photographed in Poland wearing a military uniform and a pistol on her belt in the company of German soldiers ; she had gone to the site of the battle as a war correspondent.

On September 12, 1939 she was in the town of Końskie when 30 civilians were executed there, in retaliation for an alleged attack on German soldiers.

According to her memoir, Riefenstahl tried to intervene but a furious German soldier held her at gunpoint and threatened to shoot her on the spot.

She claimed she did not realize the victims were Jews.

Closeup photographs of a distraught Riefenstahl survive from that day.

Nevertheless, by October 5, 1939, Riefenstahl was back in occupied Poland filming Hitler ’ s victory parade in Warsaw.

She left Poland and apparently chose not to make any Nazi-related movies after this, however.