Westerplatte
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Westerplatte (Polish pronunciation:
It is famous for the Battle of Westerplatte, which was the first clash between Polish and German forces during the invasion of Poland and thus the beginning and the first battle of World War II.
History
Resort
The resort was established on the Westerplatte peninsula around 1830 which had a beach, a forested park, a seaside bath complex and health spa facilities.
The transit depot
Following the reestablishment of Polish independence in the aftermath of World War I, much of the surrounding region became a part of the Second Polish Republic. The city of Danzig (present day Gdańsk), a historically important port city, at that time predominantly ethnically German, became an independent city state, the Free City of Danzig. The Free City was nominally run by the League of Nations, but over time became increasingly allied with Germany.[3][4]
In 1921, the
On 6 March 1933, in what became known as the westernmost incident (or crisis), the Polish government landed a marine battalion, briefly strengthening the outpost to about 200 men. This was done to demonstrate the Polish resolve to defend the outpost in response to recent comments by German politicians and media figures about the need of border adjustment and Poland and France were secretly discussing preventive war against Germany; on a local level this was also done to put pressure on the Danzig government which was trying to renounce prior agreement on shared Danzig-Polish control over harbor police and take sole control of that unit.[8][9] Polish troops were withdrawn by 16 March, after protests from the League, Danzig and Germany, in exchange for Danzig withdrawing its objections to the harbor police agreement.[8] According to another source, on 14 March 1933 the League did authorize Poland to strengthen the garrison.[5]
Over the years, the Poles also constructed clandestine fortifications.[6] These were not very impressive: there were no real bunkers or tunnels, but only five small concrete outposts (guardhouses) hidden in the peninsula's forest and a large barracks prepared for defence, supported by a network of field fortifications such as trenches and barricades.[7] Several of the buildings were reinforced with concrete.[10]: 54 With tensions rising, in early 1939, the garrison was placed on alert.[6]
Battle of Westerplatte
On 1 September 1939, only minutes after the
Over the coming days, the Germans repeatedly bombarded Westerplatte with
On 7 September, the Major decided to surrender, due to lack of ammunition and supplies. As a sign of honour for the soldiers of Westerplatte, the German commander, Gen. Eberhardt, allowed Major Sucharski to keep his sword while being taken prisoner.
Post-war
The ruins of the defenders' barracks and guardhouses are still there. After the war, one of the guardhouses (#1) was converted into a museum. Two 280mm shells from the Schleswig-Holstein prop up its entrance.
A Monument of the Coast Defenders (Pomnik Obrońców Wybrzeża) was unveiled in 1966.
Westerplatte Museum dedicated to the 1939 battle was created in 2015.
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Memorials to fallen soldiers. -
Barrack ruins at Westerplatte. -
Basement of ruined barrack -
Monument seen from the mainland -
War: Never Again (Nigdy więcej wojny) -
An honour guard at Westerplatte in 2018.
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See also
- Franciszek Dąbrowski
- Karol Szwedowski
- The German invasion of Poland
- The Polish Army
- The German Wehrmacht
Further reading
Sources and documents
- Stanisława Górnikiewicz-Kurowska (red.) (1994). Znaki pamięci : listy westerplatczyków (1940-1993). )
- Jacek Żebrowski (red.) (2001). Dziennik działań bojowych pancernika "Schleswig-Holstein" 8.09.-2.10.1939 r. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek. ISBN 978-83-7322-123-9.
Guidebooks
- Franciszek Mamuszka (1988). Westerplatte : przewodnik historyczny. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo PTTK "Kraj". ISBN 978-83-7005-192-1.
- Rafał Witkowski (1989). Westerplatte : informator historyczny. Gdańsk: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza. ISBN 978-83-03-01772-7.
Fiction
- Mariusz Wójtowicz-Podhorski, Krzysztof Wyrzykowski (2004). Westerplatte: Załoga śmierci. Milton Media. ISBN 978-83-920878-0-9.
Other
- Zbigniew Flisowski (1982). Tu, na Westerplatte. Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza.
- Zbigniew Flisowski (red.) (1989). Westerplatte. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa MON. ISBN 978-83-11-07694-5.
- Maria and Zbigniew Flisowscy (1985). Bastion u wrót Gdańska. Warsaw: Nasza Księgarnia. ISBN 978-83-10-08779-9.
- Władysław Kluz (1989). Honor : mjr Henryk Sucharski. Warsaw: Akademia Teologii Katolickiej.
- Mirosław Gliński (1998). Westerplatte. Gdańsk: Muzeum Historii Miasta Gdańska : Wydaw. Gdańskie. ISBN 978-83-85843-76-4.
- Stanisława Górnikiewicz-Kurowska (1988). Lwy z Westerplatte. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Morskie. ISBN 978-83-215-7237-6.
- Stanisława Górnikiewicz-Kurowska (1999). Westerplatczycy : losy obrońców Wojskowej Składnicy Tranzytowej. Gdańsk: "Marpress". ISBN 978-83-87291-53-2.
- Andrzej Drzycimski (1989). Wojna zaczęła się na Westerplatte. Gdańsk: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza. ISBN 978-83-03-02403-9.
- ISBN 978-83-04-03374-0.
- ISBN 978-83-211-1113-1.
References
- ^ Pan Literka (2014-12-29). "Westerplatte. Jak poprawnie wymawiać tę nazwę?". Obcy język polski (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
- ^ "Westerplatte". ITS Poland. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-85771-273-8.
- ISBN 978-1-139-46973-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-93924-9.
- ^ a b c d e f Garba, Bartłomiej; Westphal, Marcin (2017-03-30). "Exhibition on Westerplatte". muzeum1939.pl. Museum of the Second World War. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ^ a b (English) Janusz Marszalec, Westerplatte, p. 4[permanent dead link]
- ^ ISBN 978-1-929631-91-9.
- S2CID 153437646.
- ISBN 978-1-84176-408-5.
- ^ planned on 4:45, delayed by 3 minutes.
External links
- A Song of the Soldiers of Westerplatte
- westerplatte.pl/
- Map of events occurring in Westerplatte
- Huge article about battle of Westerplatte
- Location in OpenStreetMap
54°24′27″N 18°40′17″E / 54.40750°N 18.67139°E
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