page_title: Battle of Westerplatte
section_title: Significance
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Westerplatte / Significance
caption_attribution_description: English: Gdańsk Westerplatte, Poland, the barracks. Polski: Koszary na Westerplatte w Gdańsku, Polska.
context_page_description: The Battle of Westerplatte was one of the first battles of the German invasion of Poland, marking the start of the Second World War in Europe.
  In mid-1920s the Second Polish Republic estabilished the Polish Military Transit Depot Wojskowa Składnica Tranzytowa (WST) on the Westerplatte peninsula in the harbor of the Free City of Danzig. Beginning on 1 September 1939, Heer (German Army), Kriegsmarine (naval) and Luftwaffe (air forces) and Danzig police assaulted the Depot. Despite initial assessment on both sides that the Polish garrison should hold for several hours before being reinforced or overwhelmed, the Poles held out for seven days and repelled thirteen assaults that included dive-bomber attacks and naval shelling.
  The defence of the Westerplatte was an inspiration for the Polish Army and people in the face of German advances elsewhere and is still regarded as a symbol of resistance in modern Poland. The Polish government is planning to open a dedicated museum on the site to public in 2026.
context_section_description: The Battle of Westerplatte is often described as the opening battle of World War II, but it was only one of many battles in the first phase of the German invasion of Poland known as the Battle of the Border. I. C. B. Dear described the Schleswig-Holstein's salvos as having occurred "minutes after Luftwaffe attacks on Polish airfields" and other targets. A bridge in nearby Tczew had been bombed around 04:30 hours, and the false-flag Operation Himmler had begun hours earlier.
  The Polish historian Krzysztof Komorowski writes that "Westerplatte has become one of the symbols of the Polish struggle for independence, and is inscribed in the list of the most heroic battles of modern Europe."
  For both sides the battle had mostly political, rather than tactical, importance. Still, it did tie up substantial German forces for much longer than anyone had expected, notably preventing the Schleswig-Holstein from lending fire support in the nearby battles of Hel and Gdynia.
  Westerplatte's defense inspired the Polish Army and people even as German advances continued elsewhere; beginning 1 September 1939, Polish Radio repeatedly broadcast the phrase that made Westerplatte an important symbol: "Westerplatte broni się jeszcze" ("Westerplatte fights on"). On 16 September Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński penned a poem, Pieśń o żołnierzach Westerplatte ("A Song of the Soldiers of Westerplatte"), voicing a subsequent myth that all of Westerplatte's defenders had died in the battle, fighting to the last man. The battle became a symbol of resistance to the invasion – a Polish Thermopylae. As early as 1943, a Polish People's Army unit was named for Westerplatte's soldiers (the Polish 1st Armoured Brigade of the Defenders of Westerplatte). That same year the Polish Underground State named a street after Westerplatte; and the following year, during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, an insurgent stronghold was named Westerplatte.
caption: Ruins of Westerplatte barracks, 2005
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