Today is September 1st and if you ask any Polish kid about its significance, they will give you a blank stare as an answer. I’ve just tried it.
It was a bit different in my days. Now, I don’t know what they teach you about the starting date of WW2 (druga wojna światowa) in your countries, but in Poland it’s generally understood that the war started on September 1, 1939.
Unfortunately, when I was a high school student this sad anniversary was normally overshadowed by a more immediate, also sad event, which was the beginning of a school year. Which, incidentally, also took place on September 1st.
And this is what I remember from my high school history classes:
Something something Czechoslovakia, Hitler, something something… stuff happened, blah blah.
On September 1st, 1939 at 4:45AM the German battleship “Schleswig Holstein” started to shell the Polish garrison on Westerplatte. It was the beginning of Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the beginning of WW2.
Westerplatte, despite its very German-sounding name, was the location of a Polish Military Transit Depot (WST), sanctioned within the territory of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk). 180 Polish soldiers under the command of Major Henryk Sucharski defended their position for seven days against overwhelming odds. When they finally surrendered, Maj. Sucharski, as a sign of respect from the German dude in charge, was allowed to keep his officer’s sword while being taken prisoner.
Blah blah blah, France blah blah blah England… the Soviet Army… blah… more stuff happened. WW2 was gaining momentum.
I’m ashamed to admit that even though I lived quite nearby Gdańsk and Westerplatte, I never visited the site. These days it’s a touristy place with a museum and monuments, and that sort of thing.
One September 1st my high school organized a field trip to Westerplatte to participate in the memorial ceremonies, which were held there annually. And here, I’m again ashamed to admit that instead of going there like all good students should, together with a friend we decided to skip it. We went to a musical instrument store instead, where we played guitars and drums for most of the day. And then of course, we lied about it. What can I say? It was the 80s. We wanted to be rock stars.
photo: Wikipedia. Major Sucharski surrenders.
So, continuing on the subject of Westerplatte, I don’t know if you’ve heard about this new Polish movie “Tajemnica Westerplatte” (The Secret of Westerplatte). The movie is not even made yet, the script has barely been written, and it’s already a huge scandal in Poland. For those who don’t know, here’s a quick recap: