Order for action in Gdansk (Danzig)

[jefflgarrison]

As I mentioned earlier, we have a meeting with a former Polish soldier that fought in Gdansk. We had to postpone the meeting until next Saturday (January 24) since he has bronchitis(like me currently).

However, when my brother-in-law spoke with him on the phone the guy mentioned a "captain" that raised the flag. That is a possible good sign since our comrade Klishin was a captain.

[Alfred]

Do you have his career sheet? He may have been at a military academy or in the rear as a decimated unit was refitting.

No, the researcher was not able to find his personel file / career sheet. Only the citations of the awards were available.

best regards
Andreas

[jefflgarrison]

Photo of the flag flying over Dwor Artus. In the lower portion, you can see some of the soldiers involved in the fight.

Information about the second and third picture is that these are the Polish and Russian soldiers involved in raising the flag over Dwor Artus.

UPDATE!!!

I met with the directory of the "Historical Museum of Gdansk" today and was given the contact information for the sole surviving person credited with raising the flag over "Dwór Artus".

His name is Zbigniew Michel and we will be setting up a meeting with him to discuss this event.

[jefflgarrison]

The picture attached is of Zbigniew Michel and his wife. Zbigniew, along with another man, is credited with scaling the ruins of the "Golden House" and crossed over to "Dwor Artusa" to remove the Nazi flag and replace it with the Polish national banner.

For this 19 year old commander of a Maxim machine gun crew, it was simply an order to carry out. However, while raising the flag, his fellow soldiers heard the command over the wireless from German battery on "Bishop's Hill" (the highest point in Gdansk) to target the "Dwor Artusa" because "there are Poles trying to raise their flag over that building."

Having succeeded in raising the Polish national banner, Zbigniew and his fellow soldier quickly climbed down and withdrew along with the tank to safety several blocks from the city center under artillery fire both from "Bishop's Hill" and the Kreigsmarine in the Gdansk Bay.

The next day, our Russian captain Klishin raised the Polish national banner over the government building (which later to became Zak).

The first of the three previous photos shows the flag flying over Dwor Artusa. At the base of the flag pole are two little "blips". The blip closest to the flag pole is Zbigniew. This was a recreation done several days after fighting had ended. The second photo is Zbigniew's tank with the crew standing on it. The third photo is of a second tank used as a platform for the Russian officers that were there during the celebration. What is not seen is the several hundred Polish soldiers that were around the tanks singing and cheering.

Zbigniew served for over 40 years in Polish Army. He has received several awards for his heroic deed but only Klishin received a medal.

Photo 2: Award given to him for 60th anniversary of the event.
Photo 3: Poster for the 50th anniversary of the event.

[Koopyetz]

Jeff:
Thank you for the veterans story and the color photo attached.

[godefroy]

Hej Jeff,

great research work, good to hear about this brave Polish fellow.:thumbsup

BR
Krzysztof

[Art]

Jeff, fantastic work. Thanks for sharing it here!

[desantnik]

Yes, great story and research!

[jefflgarrison]

Two follow-up comments:

The other "hero" of that day, Bronek, had a run-in with the Polish internal police ten years after the flag raising event. Unfortunately, they wound up killing him.

The reason the Polish national banner was raised over Gdansk instead of the Russian flag was that Stalin wanted it to appear that Polish troops were "liberating" their city from German hands and not Russians gobbling up land. However, the city did not sustain so much damage during the actual fighting. According to Mr. Michel, who remained in Gdansk for the next few years, the city was stripped bare of all materials and that which could not be taken back to Russia was set on fire. Therefore, when it is stated that 90% of the city was destroyed, a sizeable portion of that was AFTER hostilities ceased.

Mr. Michel is hoping to stay in good health so that next year he can be honored at the 65th anniversary event in Gdansk.

[Eryk]

Great posts, thanks for sharing the stories. While it's fresh in your mind write the whole thing up as an essay in a format that'll last. From getting the order and research, to the pics, to finding the man involved, the interviews, etc. You won't regret putting it all one place.

Again, thanks!