Westerplatte description and photos - Poland: Gdansk (Topic)

Westerplatte description and photos - Poland: Gdansk. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Westerplatte.

Photo and description

Westerplatte is a peninsula located on the shores of the Baltic Sea near the city of Gdansk. In September 1939, Polish and German forces clashed at Westerplatte during the invasion of Poland. In 1830, a resort area with a beach, a forest park and a bath complex was founded on the peninsula.

In 1924, the League of Nations, which had jurisdiction over Gdansk, agreed to establish a transit warehouse for military weapons at Westerplatte, and a few months later and to create a military garrison. Germany had a number of complaints about the establishment of a military depot on the peninsula. Therefore, in 1939, the first military blow was struck at Westerplatte. At that time, there were 176 employees in the garrison, who were armed with one 75-mm cannon, two anti-tank guns, four mortars, and several machine guns. There were no real fortifications on the peninsula, only guardhouses hidden in the forest. Major Henrik Sukharsky was appointed commander of the garrison at that time.

The attack on the peninsula began on September 1 with a German artillery strike that lasted 10 minutes. Fierce battles were fought until September 7, when German troops launched an assault on Westerplatte. After the capture of the garrison, the wounded Polish military were taken to the Medical Academy of Gdansk, and the rest of the soldiers and officers were distributed to camps where they worked in factories and factories. Radiotelephone operator Kazimierz Rasinski was shot for refusing to hand over secret codes to the Germans.

Currently, a museum is operating on the Westerplatte peninsula on the site of the former guardhouse number 1.

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Topic: Westerplatte description and photos - Poland: Gdansk.