Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig
The Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig (Gdańsk) was one of the first acts of World War II in Europe, as part of the September Campaign. On September 1, 1939, the Invasion of Poland was initiated by Germany when the "Schleswig-Holstein" battleship opened fire on the Polish-controlled harbor of Danzig, around 04:45–48 hours. 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 October 5, 1939, and executed.
Q1792
Gdańsk
LOC
Q362
World War II
EVE
Q150812
September Campaign
EVE
Q150812
Invasion of Poland
EVE
Q7318
Germany
Concept
Q170363
"Schleswig-Holstein"
MISC
Q1051067
battleship
Concept
Q533034
opened fire
EVE
Q517081
Polish-controlled harbor of Danzig
LOC
Q207320
paramilitaries
Concept
Q23135554
police
LOC
Q150812
offensive
EVE
Q564399
Polish post office
ORG
Q15460398
SS Heimwehr Danzig
MEDIA
Q44687
SS
Concept
Q150793
SA
Concept
Q745570
illegal combatant
Concept
Q564388
Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig
EVE
1939-09-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
September 1, 1939
DATE
1939-10-05T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
October 5, 1939
DATE
+04^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
04
NUMBER
+45^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
45
NUMBER
+48^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
48
NUMBER
+15^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
15
NUMBER
part of
part of
point in time
part of
location
part of
start time
instance of
part of
participant
location
start time
significant event