Uproar as film questions bravery of Polish garrison that faced Nazis Manned by just 200 Polish soldiers on a narrow peninsula near the port of Gdansk, Westerplatte came under naval bombardment on the morning of September 1, 1939, and later faced ferocious attacks from land and air. But the down-to-earth depiction of the struggle in the film "Secrets of Westerplatte" have led to accusations that the film is "anti-Polish" and "unpatriotic," and a group of historians even dismissing it as something "that has nothing to do with the truth" and "offensive to the dignity and honour of Polish soldiers." In its defence the producers have said the film focuses on "the drama of battle, the decisions made by men in mortal danger and the eternal dispute between the rational and romantic vision." "We wanted to portray people as flesh and blood and not as bronze statues," said Pawel Chochlew, the film's director. My soldiers show they are afraid. My soldiers are just people. Major Henryk Sucharski, the garrison commander who was later awarded Poland's highest military honour for his conduct during the battle, suffers a nervous breakdown and is at one point strapped to a bed by his fellow officers. In another scene soldiers contemplate deserting after the first German attack. But while the film has garnered its detractors, cinema critics have dismissed claims that "Secrets of Westerplatte" belittles the soldiers who fought and died in the battle. One critic described it as a "hymn to the heroism of the defenders of Westerplatte"