Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig 1939
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 1 September 1939 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1939 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Poland | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | 1939 Invasion of Poland | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 54.3550, 18.6569 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Defence of the Polish Post Office in Gdańsk (Danzig) was one of the first acts of World War II in Europe, as part of the September Campaign. On 1 September 1939 the Invasion of Poland was initiated by Germany when the battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish-controlled harbor of Danzig, around 04:45. Danzig paramilitaries and police, supported by Germany, immediately joined the offensive to take full control of the city, by capturing the Polish post office. Polish personnel defended the building for some 15 hours against assaults by the SS Heimwehr Danzig (SS Danzig Home Defence), local SA formations and special units of Danzig police. All but four of the defenders, who were able to escape from the building during the surrender, were sentenced to death by a German court martial as illegal combatants on 5 October 1939, and executed (the judgement was later acknowledged as judicial murder).
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig (revision 1375764049), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Oliwa 1627 · 1 km
- Siege of Danzig (1734) 1734 · 2 km
- Siege of Danzig (1655–1660) 1655 · 2 km
- Siege of Danzig (1813) 1813 · 2 km
- Siege of Danzig (1577) 1577 · 2 km
- Siege of Danzig (1807) 1807 · 2 km
Other battles of the 1939 Invasion of Poland
- Battle of Borowa Góra 1939
- Battle of Chojnice (1939) 1939
- Battle of Cześniki 1939
- Battle of Częstochowa (1939) 1939
- Battle of Danzig Bay 1939
- Battle of Gdynia 1939
- Battle of Grodno (1939) 1939
- Battle of Hel 1939
- Battle of Husynne 1939
- Battle of Jaworów 1939
All 39 battles of the 1939 Invasion of Poland →
Browse more: battles in Poland · Europe · World War II era battles