Polish Post Office Gdansk

Polish Post Office - darkometer rating : 3 - A Gdańsk site of celebrated heroism, namely on the part of the Poles who defended this post office against the German attack at the very beginning of World War II on 1 September 1939. In fact it took place parallel to the opening of the battle at Westerplatte . Though smaller in scale, the story of the defence of the Polish Post Office is similar: despite massive superiority in firepower, it took the attackers an unexpectedly long time to overcome the fierce Polish resistance. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: Gdańsk , which was then known under its German name Danzig, and effectively was a German city, had the special status of a (semi-autonomous) "Free City". This meant that the Polish minority held certain privileges, including the running of this Post Office. It effectively had the status of an exterritorial part of Poland . Especially as tensions increased between Germany and Poland in the run-up to World War II , the Post Office was supplied with its own weaponry and military personnel so as to be able to fend off an attack for ca. six hours – the time it was expected to take for help to come from the Polish Army. As it turned out on 1 September 1939 when the attack did come, no help could be brought in, as the full-scale invasion of Poland was already under way. But the 57 defenders inside the Post Office building held out much longer than had been expected. Sources vary, but apparently the Poles defended the building for between (at least) 9 and (probably) 15 hours before finally being overcome. The German SS forces blew up part of the outer walls and brought in flame-throwers to set the building alight. Five defenders were burned alive.