Sen, long ago on the portal “Draugiem.lv” I read the memoirs of the former ship’s doctor Július Alderson, who described how in 1975 he visited the Soviet merchant ship “Pāvel Sternbergs” Poland in the port city of Gdańsk. The memoir was accompanied by photographs showing how the Poles are rebuilding the war-ravaged medieval city from white silicate blocks. I remember that I was shocked when I saw this photo report from 1975, because I had no idea that the ancient port city was built very recently as a copy. This June, I finally managed to get to Gdansk and see for myself that this replica is indeed a Polish masterpiece, but Gdansk itself is more than worth a visit.
Even before the start of the Prussian Crusades, Gdańsk was mentioned for the first time in the writings of Sv. Adalbert of Prague in 997. In 1440, Gdańsk (or Danzig in German) together with Toruń and Elblong founded the Prussian Confederation, which in 1454 rebelled against the Teutonic Order and sought protection from Poland of King Casimir IV. The Thirteen Years’ War began between the Teutonic Order and Poland, as a result of which Gdańsk was included in the Polish King of Prussia.
Archive photo
The center of Gdańsk before World War II.
However, after the partition of Poland in 1793, Danzig officially became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. After Germany’s defeat in World War 1, the Free City of Danzig was created – the city of Danzig and the surrounding territory. It was mostly inhabited by Germans, and one of the goals of the German dictator Adolf Hitler was to unite the German lands with Danzig, eliminating the so-called “Polish Corridor”. On September 1, 1939, at 4:45 a.m. local time, shells were fired from the German warship “Schleswig-Holstein” anchored in the harbor channel at the Polish garrison at Westerplatte near Danzig, which is considered the start of World War II. A few days later, German forces occupied Danzig.
The devastating spring of 1945
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