Heroes of Westerplatte: the men behind the defence

The heroes of Westerplatte were not a force sent out to die, but a rotating guard. The League of Nations allowed a guard of up to 88: 2 officers, 20 NCOs and 66 privates.⁶ The men served half-year shifts, and from 1926 onward 22 shifts passed through rooms that were never meant as permanent quarters.^7,8 Off duty they had a sports field, a kayak harbour, a tennis court, a library and a chapel.⁹

The first soldiers were men of the 4th Infantry Division under Lieutenant Stefan Konieczny, landed by the minesweeper ORP Mewa on 18 January 1926.¹⁰ The final pre-war shift was drawn from the Kielce-based 2nd Legions Infantry Division, while more men arrived covertly from Gdynia on a tug.¹¹ By the summer of 1939 reservists mobilised from the depot's civilian workers had joined them.¹²

The museum's researcher Wojciech Samól describes the 1939 guard unit as one of the best organised and most modern units of the Polish Army of its time.¹³ It was organised to fight in fortress conditions, in isolation.¹⁴ The museum has held lectures on the guard unit in the education room of the Visitor Centre at Sucharskiego 77, and the picture of these men keeps changing as research goes on.¹⁵

Captain Franciszek Dąbrowski commanded the guard.³ The City of Gdańsk describes him as deputy commandant and, from 2 September, the commander of the defence.⁴⁷ In that reading he refused the surrender the commandant had proposed after the bombing and carried the fight to the 7th day.²⁶ Drzycimski's research disputes that a surrender was ever decided, which is why both men are still debated.²⁷

Dąbrowski also shaped how the battle was remembered. The museum credits him, as a former Navy Cadet Corps officer, with starting the effort to commemorate the fallen.⁴⁸ The first symbolic grave, a wooden cross with a low fence, was later replaced by a concrete crucifix that people named after him.⁴⁹ In 1962 the communist authorities removed the Dąbrowski cross and put a Soviet-built T-34 tank up on the cemetery mound; 10 years after Sucharski's burial the cross came back.^50,51

Dąbrowski, by then a naval commander, died in Kraków on 24 April 1962.¹⁹ Today the Dąbrowski Cross overlooks the soldiers' cemetery.⁴ When you stand at the new cemetery, both commanders are present side by side: the commandant buried there, the deputy remembered by the cross. Whatever you conclude about the argument between them, both stayed with their men to the end of the fight, and both went into captivity with the garrison.⁵²

In autumn 2019 the museum's archaeologists found the remains of 9 defenders.⁵ Working with the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin and the Institute of National Remembrance, the museum has identified 7 of them.³⁴ The museum publishes short video profiles of the identified men, which are a quiet, human way to prepare for a visit.⁴⁵

On 4 November 2022 the defenders were buried in the new Polish Army Soldiers' Cemetery, the first finished part of the museum project.²¹ Laid to rest with military honours were Major Sucharski, Platoon Sergeant Petzelt, Corporals Perucki and Gębura, Senior Rifleman Okrasa, Legionnaire Kita, Senior Legionnaires Zięba and Zatorski, and 2 soldiers not yet identified.³² The day began with a Mass at St Bridget's Church in Gdańsk.¹⁰⁴

The search is not over. The museum is still looking for the remains of 3 fallen soldiers, among them Legionnaire Mieczysław Krzak.³⁵ On 5 November its archaeologists found human bones near the Fort outpost with Polish military buttons and a Polish bayonet.¹⁰⁵ The finds point to Krzak, who most likely died near the Fort on the night of 2 September 1939, but only genetic tests can confirm it.¹⁰⁶

The best way to meet these men is on foot. Start at Guardhouse No. 1, the only Polish post open to visitors, where their belongings are displayed.^43,44 Then walk to the cemetery, with a named stele for every one of the 15 and white roses where remains came out of the ground.^4,71 Ornamental grasses mark the bomb crater of 2 September 1939 at a corner of the vanished guardhouse.⁷¹

The cemetery is a war grave and the museum's rules treat it as one. Behave with gravity and respect, and dress for the place.^113,97 Animals are not allowed on the cemetery, except guide and assistance dogs, and you may not ride a bike onto it.^100,99 Children must be with an adult there and in the museum buildings.⁹⁸

A guide helps if you want names and stories at each spot. A private WWII tour from Gdańsk spends 1 hour on Westerplatte and adds the Museum of the Polish Post and the Main City in 3.5 hours. Another, beginning outside the WWII Museum by the Pilecki monument, spends 2 - 4 hours on the war in Gdańsk. Whichever you choose, keep a quiet quarter of an hour for the graves, with the camera put away.