Post-Industrial Revolution: WESTERPLATTE

Over the weekend we went to Westerplatte, a peninsula north of Gdańsk. It is famous for its part in the beginning of the Second World War. The Battle of Westerplatte, which pitched a German battleship and 3500 Soldiers against 180 Polish Soldiers has attained mythological status in Polish history.


This is a sandstone monument, erected on Westerplatte in the 50s (I honestly can't find a precise date, Polish Google isn't playing ball today) dedicated to those who died to the battle. To me it looks like a totemic face, but actually what look like eyes are soldiers, and the nose is where their guns meet.


You can't quite see it in this picture, but the writing on the monument is made from this specific font that seems to appear on all Polish monuments - or at least all the monuments from the Communist era.


Here is a sandstone monument to Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) in Gdynia (where he was born) in the same style, on the back is the same blocky font.

Roma said that Joseph Conrad was her hero because he was a famous European writer who came from Poland, and he was very famous in Britain. Marta asked whether he wrote in Polish or English, and when Roma said that he wrote in English Marta said he was a traitor.


Here is another sculpture from Westerplatte. It is a text piece and it says 'No More War' in Polish. It seems a little hopeful as a statement, but then again the change over from Communism to Democracy was famously bloodless here, so in a way I suppose you could say it was right.