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WESTERPLATTE
The site of the first shot of World War II
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Once in Gdansk , we considered it important to visit Westerplatte - the peninsula where the first shot of World War II sounded, which marked the beginning of many years of bloody horror.
Westerplatte is a small peninsula located at the confluence of the Dead Vistula River into the sea. A small Polish garrison was located on the peninsula. The feeling of the impending war appeared among the soldiers of the garrison long before September 1, 1939. Gdansk, located a few kilometers away, was at that time called Danzig and was a free city where the Germans felt like masters and were already carrying out various military engineering work there. When a German squadron paraded past Westerplatte in March 1938, commandant Westerplatte Sukharsky requested help in men and weapons. Help was sent to him, which increased the garrison from 88 to 210, including civilian personnel. What tests and bombings these people went through can be assessed by the condition of the concrete floors that you see in the next photo.
The feat of the defenders of Westerplatte is that their planned task was: in case of an attack, to hold the enemy for 12 hours, and they held out for almost seven days, and during this time, they staged an unreal hell for the attacking Germans. Few people know, but at first, the Germans chose August 26, 1939 as the date of the start of the war, so on August 25, the German battleship Schleswig Holstein entered the Gdansk Bay to attack the Westerplatte garrison in the morning. But the date of the attack was postponed, and the battleship stood for a whole week in the roadstead near the coast, forcing those in the garrison to be constantly ready to repel the attack.
To compare the forces: the "Schleswig" had four - 280 mm guns, ten - 150 mm guns and four 88 mm guns. And for the defenders: one (!!!) 75 mm cannon from those produced from 1902 to 1926, and two small 37 mm anti-tank guns. On the battleship, only the assault detachment consisted of 500 Marines, while the entire Westerplatte garrison was 210.
Came September 1, 1939 and at 04:45 "Schleswig Holstein" fired the first salvo of the Second World War. It was a ten-minute flurry of fire, which was supposed to break the will of the defenders, after which the territory was to be cleared by an SS battalion and two companies of police from Danzig, with the support of one company of marines.
After the first attack, the German soldiers realized that everything had gone, somehow wrong. Suffering heavy losses, the Germans retreated and increased the heavy fire, shelling Westerplatte from all surrounding heights. At 9:00 a new attack by the marines began, but it also "drowned": under the rifle fire of the defenders, the Germans retreated again. New attempts were made at 14:00, 17:00 and 19:00. They ended in nothing. The result of the first day of the battle: Poles - 4 killed and several wounded, Germans - (!!!) 82 killed and 100 wounded. True, the success of the Germans can be attributed to the fact that the only old cannon of the Poles, having managed to make 28 shots, was destroyed.
During the next week, there were: the bombing of Westerplatte by 47 aircraft, the crossing of the strait on boats by the marines, an attack by a sapper battalion of 780 people with flamethrowers, shelling of Westerplatte from a torpedo boat, the Germans launching a tank of gasoline on rails to blow it up and burn everything around.
Imagine that 182 Polish soldiers held a group of 3,500 German soldiers around them for a week, inflicting enormous damage on them every day.
When the resistance was broken and the surviving Poles were taken prisoner, out of respect for their heroism, the German command allowed the commandant Sukharsky to wear his officer's saber even in captivity. During the seven days of the defense of Westerplatte, the Polish garrison lost 16 defenders, killing more than 400 Germans and injuring more than 800. Read more about the heroic defense of Westerplatte here , and we will return to the memorial that was erected in memory of the Polish heroes. Before going up to the stele, you can read a quote from John Paul II that everyone in life will have their own Westerplatte, which will need to be protected for themselves and for others.
It's time to tell you how you can get to Westreplatte. The easiest way will be the tourist red bus , which starts from the Golden Gate of Gdansk. It runs once an hour and Westerplatte is the farthest stop on the Red Line. After getting off there, you will have 1 hour for sightseeing before the return bus. We had enough time for all Westerplatte locations.
Look, in my opinion, the most atmospheric photograph that we managed to take at the site of the beginning of World War II.
The stella is set on a dais, which is symbolically planted with shrubs with bright red rose hips, symbolizing the drops of blood of the defenders.
There is a canal on one side of the peninsula. While walking along the canal, we found an advertisement for a ferry from Poland to Norway. Perhaps it starts somewhere near Westerplatte.
In one of the parts of the park there is a memorial site for the fallen defenders. Whether this is a burial place - we could not find out.
On the other side of the peninsula is the sea and the cranes of the Northern Port of Gdansk , which are visible somewhere on the horizon.
Next to the red bus stop, there is a small market where you can buy souvenirs and eat pastries with a cup of coffee.
One of the main souvenirs in this market is the modern military uniform of a Polish soldier. This shows very well how proud Poles are of their defenders.
The great history of the defense of Westerplatte is repeatedly mentioned in the film "Four Tankmen and a Dog" , which was cult in the USSR, where the main characters were Yarosh and Saakashvili 😂😂😂
When you are in Gdansk, visit Westerplatte, because it is always interesting to touch the places where the modern history of our world was written.
And we continue to promote the motto of our blog: be sure to travel!
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