IX Stage of Archaeological Research

IX Stage of Archaeological Research

On October 27th, the 9th stage of archaeological research at Westerplatte, conducted by the Archaeological Department of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, was completed.


During the works, the search for the remains of one of the fallen defenders of the Military Depot, Rifleman Mieczysław Krzak, which began in 2021, continued. This soldier probably died on the night of September 2nd-3rd, 1939, in the area of the "Fort" facility. Finding the remains of all of the Polish soldiers who died during the defense of the Depot, their identification and burial in named graves with all honours due to heroes, is a priority task for the museum archaeologists.


From the beginning of June, during the research, the relics of ammunition shelters No. 8, 10, 11 and 12 were documented and work was initiated to locate the position of the Polish 76.2 mm gun. Archaeologists conducted research in the vicinity of the historic power plant of the depot and supervised the earthworks related to the construction of a new Military Cemetery for the Polish Army soldiers at Westerplatte. In the vicinity of the cemetery, three bomb craters created during the German attack on the Polish facility were found, inside which items from the Officers' Villa and Guardhouse No. 5 were found. During the research, over 1,500 artifacts were obtained, mainly related to the day-to-day service of the Polish soldiers on Westerplatte as well as the heroic defense of the Depot in September 1939.

 

The total area, documented in detail by excavations and archaeological surveys, was 860 m².