A large protective arm smothering Gdańsk's Nowy Port to its south, the peninsula of Westerplatte first sprang to fame as a popular health resort in the middle of the 19th century, although it's as a military zone and the place where the opening shots of WWII were fired that Westerplatte is more notoriously remembered.
On March 14, 1924 Poland was awarded Westerplatte as a location for bringing in military equipment and ammunition from abroad, and on November 11, 1925, exactly seven years after the end of WWI and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Versailles that created the Free City of Gdańsk, the building of a new depot that was to station a small detachment of 88 Polish soldiers was completed. Over the next 14 years Westerplatte grew into a huge defensive fort, and was considered so strategically important to Hitler that his invasion of Poland effectively started here.
Shortly before five o'clock in the morning on September 1, 1939, the German warship Schleiswig-Holstein, supposedly visiting Gdańsk on a good-will mission, opened fire on Westerplatte, and the rest as they say is history. Over the next seven days, just 220 Polish soldiers and civilians defended Westerplatte from a massive offensive of around 1,500 Germans, finally surrendering at 10:15 on the morning of September 7 at the cost of just 20 Polish lives. Their bravery was recognised by the German general, who allowed the Polish Major in charge of Westerplatte, Henryk Sucharski (1898-1946) to keep his sword with him in prison, as well as by Hitler, who later visited Westerplatte to inspect the scene. Polish survivors of the defence of Westerplatte even found themselves being saluted by their German counterparts as they were marched into captivity.
Today Westerplatte is a memorial site featuring a scattering of shelled bunkers, burnt-out ruins and a small museum open during the summer. In the southwest corner of the peninsula is a huge, 25-metre monument made of 236 granite blocks. The work of the architect Adam Haupt and sculptor Franciszek Duszenko and called Heroes of Westerplatte, the controversial grey beast was officially unveiled on October 9, 1966. To get to Westerplatte on public transport from the main train station in Gdansk you first need to take tram no. 8 to the Music Academy and from there catch bus N°106 to Westerplatte.
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