Gdansk Old Town

Gdańsk was founded by Polish ruler Mieszko I in 980.

It was a strategic port settlement where the river Vistula emptied into the Baltic Sea and ships sailed toward the Scandinavian Kingdom of Denmark.

On Sept. 1, 1939 the German warship Schleswig-Holstein fired at Polish units in the city of Gdańsk, then known as Danzig.
The Nazi blitzkrieg of Poland followed and World War II erupted.

At the time, Gdansk was governed by Poland but had a vast German population. Adolf Hitler demanded it be handed over to the Third Reich and refused to take "no" for an answer.

By the time the war was over, large parts of the city were destroyed.Read more