The outbreak of World War II was marked by Germany's sudden attack on Gdansk in Poland on September 1, 1939, which was described in the Polish movie "Free City".
On September 1st, all of Poland is recalling the historical scene that happened on their own land on this day 63 years ago. This scene ignited the most tragic war in human history - the Second World War in Europe.
On September 1, 1939, Hitler's Germany launched the "Blitzkrieg" against Poland. However, what is little known is that Hitler did not launch his attack from the German-Polish border, that is, the "Western Front", but fired the first shot on the Westerplatte Peninsula in northeastern Poland.
The reporter recently made a special trip to visit this unknown place. The Westerplatte Peninsula is located to the north of Gdansk, an important port in northern Poland. It is only separated from the port by a narrow canal. It is like a human arm stretching out to the sea and then bending back to protect Gdansk. Location is very important. On August 25, 1939, the German warship "Shihe" went to Gdansk for a goodwill visit. At 4:45 in the morning on September 1, the ship's four 280 mm and ten 150 mm cannons suddenly opened fire on the Polish garrison of only about 200 people on the peninsula. At the same time, 1,500 German troops participated in the landing attack on the island. The Polish troops stationed on the island were caught off guard and began to counterattack. The German army deployed dozens of planes and dropped bombs weighing 500 kilograms each on the small peninsula and bombed it indiscriminately...
On September 1 this year, people from Gdansk came to The 63rd anniversary of the Great War is commemorated on the Westerplatte peninsula. The siren blared over the peninsula, and the host said in a serious tone, "On this day before the 63rd anniversary, the new school year did not begin. What began was an unprecedented tragedy in human history." "War anniversaries are a special lesson for young people."
The 220 Polish warriors on the peninsula heroically defended the peninsula for 7 days. Although they were eventually outnumbered and the surviving officers and soldiers made the decision to surrender, the tolerant Poles still treated them as national heroes. In the early 1960s, people decided to build a permanent memorial marker here. In 1966, the Westerplatte Heroes Monument was completed. Survivors of the defense war and their families attended the dedication ceremony.
The monument is located on a steep hillside not far from the No. 1 Bunker of the Defense War. It is composed of 22 pieces of granite with a total weight of 1,200 tons. The upper part of the monument is engraved with the heads of Polish soldiers standing tall, and the lower part is engraved with the names of Polish soldiers who participated in the defense of Westerplatt and other battles of Gdansk. The big banner at the foot of the hillside read: "Never War!"
After the Battle of Westerplatt started, Hitler immediately launched the famous "Blitzkrieg" in the history of war on the German-Polish border, using 1.5 million troops, 2,500 tanks, 2,000 aircraft. At that time, Poland only had 1 million troops, 150 tanks, and 400 aircraft, and most of them were old-fashioned equipment. In this battle to defend their homeland, Poland suffered approximately 200,000 casualties. What is even more tragic is that after Hitler occupied Poland for more than half a month, the disaster of genocide befell the Polish nation.
Although the beating of pebbles against rocks left a psychological scar on the Polish people, the Polish national spirit was revealed in the disaster. As Speaker of the Polish House of Representatives Porowski said in his speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, September 1st is not only the anniversary of the outbreak of the World War, but also the day when Poland said "no" to aggression and fascism. Perhaps, this is a portrayal of the Polish nation's character of "rather being in pieces than in ruins."
(Xinhua News Agency, Warsaw, September 1)