On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked Poland. Westerplatte, the Baltic and a memory we must not lose

87 years ago, in the early morning, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on Westerplatte. For seven days, around two hundred Polish soldiers defended the Military Transit Depot at the entrance to the port of Gdańsk against the forces of a state that unleashed the largest armed conflict in history. Today, looking at Westerplatte from the perspective of modern Poland, we should remember not only the heroism of the defenders, but also why the security of a state requires constant preparation and what an important role the Baltic once again plays in it.

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01 september 2026   |   04:04   |   Source: Gazeta Morska   |   Prepared by: Kamil Kusier   |   Print

fot. Mikołaj Bujak / KPRP

The war began on the Baltic

1 September 1939 was not a day on which war simply "broke out". It was the day of German aggression against Poland. Even before the first salvo was fired at Westerplatte, the war was in fact already under way - the first air-raid sirens were wailing over Polish towns, the Luftwaffe was attacking the Vistula bridges at Tczew and beginning the bombing of Wieluń. At 4:48 am, the time recorded in the ship's log, the battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish depot at Westerplatte. At the same moment German troops were crossing the Polish border along its entire length, and successive targets across the Second Polish Republic came under air attack.

Westerplatte quickly became one of the most important symbols of the first days of the war. Despite the enemy's overwhelming superiority and repeated assaults, the Polish garrison held its positions for seven days. The defence of this small patch of Polish territory took on a significance far greater than military. It became a symbol of determination, duty and the readiness to defend one's own state at the moment its existence came under threat.

Pomerania fought from the first minutes

Westerplatte was not the only place where the war began with surprise and subterfuge. At Tczew, the Germans wanted to seize the strategic bridges over the Vistula under the cover of scheduled transit traffic across Pomerania - an assault group hidden in a train using transit rights was to roll onto the crossings while aircraft paralysed the Polish defences. Polish sappers were quicker, however, and at around 6:00 am they blew up the bridges, denying the aggressor one of the most important objectives of the first day of the war.

The Germans prepared a similar scenario at Chojnice. In the first minutes of the war a German armoured train with an assault group pulled into the local station, likewise under the cover of transit traffic. The town's defenders opened fire and repelled the attack - the train had to withdraw under fire, and the fighting for Chojnice went on for many more hours before superior German forces compelled the Polish troops to retreat.

On the evening of 1 September, near Chojnice at Krojanty, the 18th Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment charged a resting German infantry battalion, halting the enemy's advance through the Tuchola Forest for several hours. The regiment's commander, Colonel Kazimierz Mastalerz, fell in the action. It was around this charge that German propaganda later built the false myth of Polish cavalry attacking tanks - in reality the uhlans charged infantry, and the myth was meant to ridicule the Polish army.

Gdańsk wrote its own chapter as well. In parallel with the defence of Westerplatte, the staff of the Polish Post Office in the Free City of Danzig resisted for around fifteen hours, holding the building until the evening of 1 September. After capitulating they were taken prisoner, and most of them were executed by the Germans in early October 1939.

The Polish coast fought longer than the aggressor had assumed. Gdynia fell on 14 September, the Oksywie Heights held out until 19 September, and the Hel Peninsula capitulated only on 2 October, as one of the last points of organised resistance. Even before the outbreak of war, under the Peking Plan, three Polish destroyers - ORP Błyskawica, ORP Grom and ORP Burza - sailed for Great Britain to fight on at sea alongside the Allies for years to come.

In the days and weeks that followed, German aggression engulfed further parts of Poland. On 17 September the Red Army marched in from the east. The Second Polish Republic found itself between two totalitarian powers, and the war begun on 1 September brought Poland unimaginable human, economic and material losses.

History needs no whitewashing

After 87 years there is no need for words that blur responsibility. The war did not "appear" by itself. It was not a natural consequence of events that could not be stopped. On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked Poland. That is a historical fact which should be presented clearly and without attempts at relativisation.

Historical memory, however, is not needed solely to point to the perpetrators. It is also needed so that successive generations understand the consequences of a state's weakness, of miscalculations, and of the belief that peace will last regardless of what is happening around us.

Today we live in an entirely different Europe. Poland is a member of NATO and the European Union, has far greater economic and technological capabilities than before the war, and its security is part of an allied system - the same one in which Germany is today Poland's ally and one of its most important economic partners. That does not mean history has ceased to matter. Quite the opposite. In a world where we are once again witnessing armed conflicts, great-power rivalry and the growing importance of critical infrastructure, the lessons of the twentieth century remain valid.

The Baltic is not just a sea

The Baltic has particular significance for Poland. Westerplatte lies on its shore, but the contemporary importance of the Polish coast goes far beyond the historical dimension. The ports of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Szczecin and Świnoujście are part of the economic bloodstream of the state. Transport routes run across the Baltic, telecommunications and power cables and the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline lie on its seabed, and the LNG terminal in Świnoujście receives deliveries for the whole country. This is infrastructure on which the functioning of a modern economy depends, and its importance has been underlined by the incidents around subsea installations in the Baltic in recent years.

The development of offshore energy further increases the importance of the Polish sea. Wind farms, terminals, power links, installation ports and all the infrastructure needed to service them are creating a new branch of the economy, but at the same time creating new areas that require protection.

The Baltic is thus simultaneously a space of economy, energy, transport and security. Its importance will grow in the years ahead, and with it will grow the need to monitor the sea area, protect infrastructure and develop the capacity to respond to threats.

Security begins earlier

Westerplatte is a good place to remind ourselves of one more thing. The security of a state does not begin the moment an adversary appears. It begins much earlier, with decisions about the armed forces, industry, infrastructure, technology, energy and education.

Today, reconnaissance systems, uncrewed surface and underwater vehicles, satellite technologies, artificial intelligence and systems for monitoring critical infrastructure are growing in importance. For a state like Poland these are no longer purely military matters. They are an element of economic security and of the resilience of the entire country.

A modern conflict does not have to begin with the shelling of a Westerplatte. It may begin with an attack on the power system, the disruption of communications, the sabotage of infrastructure, a cyberattack, or actions aimed at transport and logistics. That is why a state's preparation must encompass far more than the armed forces alone.

Memory obliges

The defenders of Westerplatte did not know how long they would fight or how the following days would unfold. What they did know was that at the moment of trial their task was to defend the place entrusted to them. Today we do not face the same challenge, but responsibility for the state remains as relevant as ever.

It rests on the military, but also on entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, shipbuilders, energy workers, seafarers and all those who build Poland's economic and technological potential. A strong state needs not only a well-equipped army. It also needs its own industry, secure ports, efficient infrastructure and people capable of creating the technologies that will protect the country against future threats.

That is why 1 September should not be merely a date in the calendar and another anniversary observed at monuments. It should be a day of remembrance, but also a day of reflection on what kind of Poland we want to leave to the next generations.

Westerplatte still has something to tell us

When we look at Westerplatte today, we see a place where the history of Poland met the history of all of Europe. We see a symbol of Polish resistance, but also a reminder that security is never given once and for all.

On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked Poland. On 17 September the Soviet Union did the same. Poland was forced to fight two totalitarian adversaries. That tragedy remains one of the most important lessons of our history.

Today our task is not only to remember those who fought then. Our task is to draw conclusions from their experience. To build a strong economy, develop industry, protect infrastructure, invest in technology and strengthen defence capabilities.

Because the best way to honour those who defended Westerplatte is not merely to commemorate their heroism. It is to build a state whose security future generations will not have to defend alone and unprepared.

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1 września 87 rocznica wybuchu ii wojny światowej ii wojna światowa westerplatte schleswig-holstein zaatakował westerplatte

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