Losy westerplatczyków
Fates of the defenders of the Westerplatte

Summary/Abstract: Westerplatte was where the mission of the only Polish army unit stationed beyond the borders of the Second Polish Republic lasted for over 13 years. After the seven-day defence in September 1939, the defenders were taken to POW camps, labor camps or even concentration camps across the whole Europe. After the war, most Westerplatte defenders came back to Poland, while some dispersed around the world, unable to return to their homeland controlled by the Soviets. Those who came back had to face a new political reality. They were gradually eradicated from the collective memory, and the times of humiliation, surveillance and persecution followed. In the next years, the propaganda of the Polish People’s Republic partly opened up for their voice. Monuments were erected, and schools, streets and military units were named after them. Simultaneously, fates of the individual Westerplatte defenders remained beyond the interest of the authorities of that time. It was not until the beginning of the Third Polish Republic when most of the living and fallen fighters were decorated with the War Order of Virtuti Militari.

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