The battle of Westerplatte movie, and the history behind it

There is more than one battle of Westerplatte movie, and they come from very different times. The older one is Westerplatte, a Polish feature of 1967 directed by Stanisław Różewicz.^1,6 The second is Tajemnica Westerplatte, a feature film of 2013 directed by Paweł Chochlew; its title means the secret of Westerplatte.³ The heritage institute notes that the defenders' memory lives on in many works of literature and film.⁷

Before any film there was a poem. Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński wrote verses for the defenders of Westerplatte in September 1939, while Poland was still fighting.⁸ Radio did the rest: announcements that the defence of Westerplatte was continuing were heard across the country amid news of defeat.⁹ By the time cinema came to the subject, the battle was already a national legend, and every film since has had to deal with that.

The films also sit inside a long argument about the past. The Gdańsk tourist guide to the site warns that many false myths and misunderstandings have grown around Westerplatte.¹⁰ Knowing where the official record is firm, and where it is not, is the best way to watch either film with open eyes. Both films are dramas, not documents, and both were shaped by the years in which they were made.

The older film left traces on the place it portrays. The Gdańsk Tourist Organisation's visitor guide points out that the facade of Guardhouse No. 1 is covered in gouges and chips from hits, some authentic and some made for the filming.⁴ Look closely when you visit: not every scar on the concrete dates from the battle, and the guide does not say which are which. Treat the wall as a record of the battle and of its memory at once, the real shell hits and the way the fighting was later re-created.⁴

The guardhouse itself was moved in 1967, the year of the film's prize, to save it from demolition on the port quay.^31,2 Inside, the city museum keeps keepsakes of the garrison; the tourist guide lists Major Sucharski's uniform jacket, photographs, weapons and a model of the battleship.^32,33 Spend a few minutes there before or after the film and each will explain the other.

The same guide judges the 1967 film a valuable work of real historical worth, and far better, it says, than Tajemnica Westerplatte.⁴ That is the view of a tourist guide, not a court of history, but it matches the Gdynia festival's own praise for the older film.¹⁵ If you want a single film to set the mood before a visit, the 2 sources point the same way.

The German side made a point of recording those September days, and that shapes every film made since.⁵ Reporters from the Reich followed the fighting from the Nowy Port side of the channel, and a radio van sent it out live.^41,42 Hitler sent his own photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann, to capture the capitulation.⁵

The pictures were meant for a quick triumph that did not come. As days passed, German reports shifted to stories of mighty fortifications and called the depot a little Verdun.⁴³ After Hitler's visit to the peninsula, the Germans brought a group of foreign correspondents to Gdańsk, among them William L. Shirer, later author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.^44,45

The City of Gdańsk publishes a selection of these photographs, from the National Digital Archive, on its news site.⁴⁶ Look at them knowing their purpose: they show what the attackers wanted the world to see, framed for a quick victory that did not come. Read the captions with the same care you would give to any wartime propaganda.

If you see only one film, choose the 1967 Westerplatte: the festival and tourist guide both praise it, and it was filmed partly on the site you will walk.^15,4 Then compare it with the record, scene by scene if you like. Orders asked for roughly 12 hours of resistance; the garrison lasted 7 days and lost 15 men.^24,54,27

If you have time for 2, watch Tajemnica Westerplatte next, keeping the dispute over the commanders in mind. Keep the facts that are not in dispute in mind: the depot surrendered on 7 September after the wounded could no longer be treated, and the Germans granted honourable terms.^55,56 Films may disagree about motives; the official record agrees about the outcome.

Then let the place speak. A galleon round trip passes the peninsula and the monument in 80 minutes without landing, which works well as a first look. A guided walk on the site takes in the barracks ruins, the guardhouses and the cemetery over 1.5 - 2.5 hours. However you come, you will see the concrete that both films tried to bring to life.