Stage VI

The sixth stage of archaeological research took place from August 3rd to November 7th, 2020. Its objective was to confirm or exclude the possibility of locating additional burials in the area adjacent to the graves discovered in 2019 during the fifth stage of research. Simultaneously, on plot 68, 68 soldiers from the 43rd Naval Engineer Battalion and the Engineer Company of the 2nd Engineer Regiment from Kazuń conducted sapper work under archaeological supervision, combined with the search for historical artifacts. Their goal was to clear the area of explosive materials and militarily hazardous objects to ensure the safety of museum workers and tourists visiting Westerplatte, as well as to acquire movable artifacts contextually related to the Westerplatte Military Transit Depot. Additionally, also under archaeological supervision, a pit was dug for a pedestal commemorating the centenary of regaining independence, which was to be erected near the new barracks (completed in February 1921).

During this stage, an area of 715.2 m² was thoroughly examined, and digging work was conducted over an area of 32,752 m². Excavations with a total area of 468 m² were laid out in the vicinity of the burial site of Polish soldiers discovered during the previous stage. During the previous stage, the team of archaeologists from the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk uncovered five graves containing the remains of nine individuals. These were soldiers who died in the bombed guardhouse No. 5 on September 2nd, 1939, by the Luftwaffe and in other parts of the peninsula. After the Polish civilian prisoners, who were cleaning up Westerplatte under German supervision after the fighting, buried the bodies of the defenders in the pits they had dug themselves. The analysis of archival sources indicates that there may be at least two more Polish defenders' graves on the peninsula. However, no human remains were found during this stage of research. The results of the work included the discovery of remnants related to the Military Transit Depot, such as remnants of the sewage system, a cesspool, and a fragment of the electrical or alarm installation connecting the guardhouse ring with the new barracks. Four masonry latrines, erected for the needs of the resort and dismantled during the establishment of the depot, were also recorded. During the digging activities, test pits with a total area of 210 m² were excavated. These excavations resulted in, among other things, locating the remains of a utility building known as Mikołajewo, which was built after 1934 on the site of the resort's foundation. To the north of the new barracks, four sewage manholes were uncovered as part of the sewage treatment system running from the barracks northward. The object closest to the building was a concrete chamber measuring 1.9 m × 3.15 m and a height of 3.5 m, with a vertical shaft 1 m high leading into it. The chamber, operating on the principle of an Imhoff settler, consisted of two parts: sedimentation (flow) and sediment (fermentation). On the southern side (barracks), there was an outlet of an iron pipe through which sewage entered, and on the northern side, slightly lower, there was an inlet pipe - this is where liquid waste flowed into the next manhole. During the construction of the pedestal, a stormwater manhole associated with this building was recorded and examined on the eastern side of the new barracks. In other test pits, the remains of buildings erected and functioning during the resort period were located, as well as traces of demolition and cleanup work carried out for the needs of the Military Transit Depot.

During the digging work, over 2500 explosive and militarily hazardous objects were found and disposed of. Among them were 2 bombs (FAB 500 weighing 500 kg and a phosphorous bomb), nearly 100 artillery shells ranging from 20 to 200 mm in caliber, mortar and hand grenades, fuses, and components of small-arms ammunition.

During this stage of research, over 9000 artifacts were acquired, with over 5500 of them considered objects of high historical, exhibition, or historical value. Among them were items related to the period of operation and defense of the Military Transit Depot: Polish cap eagles and uniform buttons, lead seals securing depot buildings, toothpaste tubes, medicine packaging, a shaving machine, fragments of harbor cranes, and small-arms ammunition components and shell fragments. Objects from an earlier period included musket balls, Prussian uniform buttons, coins, glass bottles, and numerous fragments of ceramic vessels and utility ceramics from the time of the resort's operation.