Topics of coins
Defence of the Polish Post Office in Gdańsk. German Aggression Against Poland
While the Treaty of Versailles put an end to World War I
in 1919, it did not resolve the contentious issues in
the Polish-German relations. The bone of contention
was, among other matters, Gdańsk— under the Treaty
of Versailles of 28 June 1919 it was declared a free city.
The Polish interests were safeguarded by: the General
Commissariat of the Republic of Poland, the Delegacy
of the Attorney General’s Office, the Chief Customs
Inspectorate, the Polish State Railways, the Polish
Delegacy of the Port and Waterways Council, the Polish
Post Office, the Polish Telegraph Agency, etc. Poland
was entitled to maintain a sentry detachment with
its headquarters on the Westerplatte peninsula as
the Military Transit Depot.
The Polish inhabitants constituted approximately 10
per cent of the overall population of Gdańsk. However,
it is unknown exactly how numerous the Polish
community was. The estimated number is 9,000 people.
Poles were repeatedly harassed by both the local
authorities and the German population.
On 1 September 1939 at 4:48 am, the battleship
Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish Military
Transit Depot on Westerplatte. These shots marked
the outbreak of World War II.
On the same day, an assault was launched on
the building of the Polish Post Office in the Free City
of Gdańsk. The assault was carried out by a special
division of the Schutzpolizei (Protection Police)
and the SS subdivisions: Wachsturmbann “Eimann” and
SS-Heimwehr Danzig. The acting director of post offices
and telegraphs was Dr Jan Michoń, and the man in charge
of the defence of the building was explosives engineer
Reserve 2 Lt Konrad Guderski, alias “Konrad”, a civilian
employee of the 2nd Division of the Central Staff of
the Polish Armed Forces. He was killed at the beginning of
the defence by a grenade blast and then the command was
taken over by his deputy Alfons Flisykowski. The post office
employees put up strong resistance. Following the initial
unsuccessful attacks, the Germans introduced two armoured
cars into the action: SS-Ostmark and SS-Sudetenland. They
used hand grenades and artillery: a 105 mm howitzer and
two infantry guns. The postmen surrendered only after
the Germans used armoured weapons and flamethrowers.
Six Poles were killed.
The arrestees were incarcerated in Biskupia Górka, and
later in the prison in Schiesstange (currently, Kurkowa
Street). On 5 October 1939, under a wrongful sentence
passed by a court martial, 38 post office employees were
executed at a shooting range between Gdańsk Wrzeszcz
and the present-day district of Gdańsk Zaspa.
The reverse of the coin features the images of Dr Jan Michoń,
Alfons Flisykowski and Reserve 2 Lt Konrad Guderski
against the main entrance to the Post Office building.
The obverse features the main entrance to the Post Office
building against the destroyed façade of the building.
The design is complemented by the Polish Post Office symbol.
Bogdan Chrzanowski, PhD, DSc, Prof Tit