Evening star., 1939-09-08
BvLYNN HEINZERLING,


1t was coming.
1t was 4:47 am by my watch
when the firing started. I couldn't
place it as I ran down the hotel
stairs several steps at a time.
The night watchman said:
"Es geht los" ut'S Startedo
I ran toward the Vistula River.
There I saw what it was-the Ger
man cruiser Schleswig- -Holstein fir
ing on the Polish munitions depot
OF Westerplatte.
adolf Hitlers order of the day
instructing the German Army to
meet force with force was timed
at $50 a.m)
Already the cruisers white sides
were blackened from the powder OF
the shells it was pouring onto the
heavily wooded Westerplatte PENN
sula from its 18-centlmeter and 70
centimeter guns.
Strangely. l found taxi that
took me to the former customs
house. From there l climbed hill
behind the lines.
Defenders Completely Surrounded.
Below, German soldiers were
guarding all approaches to the
waterfront ana clearing the entire
.harbor district of thousands OF
civilians to clear the way for the air
raids that were to come. WINDOWS
all through the district were
smashed by the force of the eXplo-
sions of the shells from the cruiser
The schlest. .g-Holstein was stand
Ing out in the harbor, not saT of
shore. Beyond the peninsula. IN
J Danzig Bay, were other ships OF the
German fleet
Between the two forces lay the
little peninsula, completely sur
rounded by enemy territory and OF
fering no chance for retreat or es-
cape. The Poles seemed to be draw
ing back, strictly on the defensive
and their firing apparently had no
definite objective.
After an hour of shelling from
German landing party set out. But
their attempt to storm the Poles
failed. A cross-fire of machine guns,
the Poles chief armament, drove
them back with heavy losses.
Even the Danzigers Impressed.
AS the battle progressed, my move
ments were restricted sharply. Still
I had a chance to see the Wreckage
of the Dirschau Bridge. which the
Poles had mined in advance and
then blown up to cover their retreat
Bv mistake a cab driver and |
landed in the new SahrWaSser har-
Dor district. 1t was an eerle place.
Cleared out by the Germans, it was
"a dead city. with gaping windows
amid the wreckage left by wild firing
and bombing from the air.
On the second day "a German
bombers dropped at least so bombs
on the pelnsula. 1t was tremend-
Gus effort to dislodge the stubborn
band of defenders, and the eXplo-
sions echoed and re-echoed over
Danzig.
But when it was all over rattle
OF machine guns showed the Poles
still were defiant. During the next
days more shells followed. and still
the Poles held fast. Even DanZlgerS
began talking about the Polish
fanatics" and to puzzle over the
Germans inability to capture the
defenders and seize the munitions
depot that was granted Poland by
treaty. q
Westefplatte a ShambleS.
During these days I followed the
fighting from the roof of my hotel.
From there, too, 1 saw the firing
of me Polish post Office. Smoke
from the fire rose about half mile
in the air
AL during the fighting I could
hear intermittent firing from the
direction of the seashore resort of
zoppot and the Polish port of
GdYnia.
When I left Danzig Tuesday the
Poles still were holding out. The
Westerplatte was quiet. tangled
wreck of steel and crumbled red
brick walls. with the hundreds of
trees reduced to bare stumps by the
intense bombardment. Only an oc-
casional burst of machine-gun fire
showed the Poles still were there.
AS the German Gestapo (secret
police and the troops clamped down
further restrictions and Danzig be-
came lockedup city, l decided to
leave The Gestapo said they had
no objection to my going. but still
1t took an entire day to get a pass
100 of Garrison Killed.
BY way of Kalthos, on the Danzig
side of East Prussia, 1 finally
reached Marienburg. Three Ger
man troops already were in charge
and l had some difficulty with ex-
animation of my passport and ques-
tioning of the Gestapo pass because
it gave no specific permission to
travel.
Eventually I was passed through
and onto the direct route to Riga.
On the trip here I saw much open
military activity throughout East
Prussia.
Today, when word came to Riga
that the white flag had been raised
over Westerplatte, these Poles and
recent arrivals from Danzig took the
news with a mixture of skepticism
and relief that the uneven struggle
was ended.
All who had seen the tons of shells
and bombs that were dropped on the
little bands of Poles knew it must
end either in surrender or the death
Of the entire garrison.
The Poles describe the six-day de-
Tense of the depot as heroic chap
ter in Polish history. One hundred
Of the garrison we're killed and 100
~,>s> -