Bronze Post Office Eagle - Nazi Invasion of Poland

[UnderMiner]

Was scrounging around the sanitation depot today when a truck dropped off a big pile of demolition debris. Saw lots of very old antique radios and other neat old things mangled throughout the pile of twisted metal rods and cement - likely the contents of an old person's garage. Nearly everything was too damaged for salvage. I sorted around through the pile in hopes of finding something that wasn't destroyed when I found this bronze plaque. The plaque depicts the Polish eagle. An inscription on the bottom reads: "Wolne Miasto Gdansk - Poczta Polska - 1939 Rok" which translated reads: "Free City of Danzig - Polish Post - Year 1939".



Didn't know how much history this plaque represented until I got home and realized the significance - 1939 would have been the last year that the Free City of Danzig existed before the Nazis seized control in the very first major event of World War II - the German invasion of Poland. More strikingly, and I just discovered the history a few minutes ago - a very specific battle took place called the "Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig."



It was literally the first major battle of WWII and involved the Polish Postal workers of the Free City of Danzig fortifying the post office and taking on the full force of the German Wehrmacht, SA, and SS as they began their invasion of Poland. The post office was bombarded by artillery, partially blown up with explosives, and then the Germans made the local fire department pump the basement full of gasoline and set it on fire. Out of the 56 Polish defenders within the building 28 lived long enough to surrender only to be executed soon after, 6 defenders managed to escape the building without being captured, and of those 6 only 4 survived to see the end of the war.

In the same article I was reading about the fall of the Free City of Danzig it highlighted the fact that one of the first things the Germans did after capturing the city was to remove all the insignia and symbols of Polish Danzig and put in their place new Nazi symbols.

So from this information I created a theory - this plaque I found today may have actually been removed by the Germans when they invaded the city, then during the war a US soldier or a Polish immigrant to the US simply brought it to New York, left it in his garage, and then half century later the garage was demolished along with its contents and disposed of - leading the relic to me!

Edit: Okay, I just confirmed what this actually is, and man is this something amazing. It is one of possibly a few dozen surviving examples left of the last ever issued coat of arms of the Free City of Danzig post office. These were installed in 1939 on the outside of Danzig post office mail wagons. Every Danzig mail wagon had one. On September 1st 1939, the very first day of WWII, the Germans invaded the city as part of their larger invasion of Poland. The mailmen of Danzig were the only resistance that the Nazis faced. The Main Post office building of Danzig was besieged all day until it fell and the surrendering post workers were executed. The Germans were ordered to remove all the Polish plaques from the city and install new Nazi versions. The Danzig Post Office plaques were removed from the mail wagons and German troops kept them as spoils of war - most being taken back to Germany and displayed as trophies. These wagon plaques were significant as they represented the Danzig post office - the very first adversary the Germans defeated in WWII. 5 years later when Germany was invaded by the American forces, American G.I.'s plundered many German houses and took back with them relics such as these plaques and brought them home to the US as souvenirs. The Polish called these trophies "Hitleryki". This is one of no more than a dozen or so known surviving examples of an original Danzig mail wagon plaque - a relic from the first battle, of the first day, of the first adversary the Germans defeated in WWII.


Nazis invade Danzig and plunder the Polish eagles, replacing them with swastikas:




Stalin with a Polish eagle plundered by the Soviets from the Nazis after WWII:


My Polish Danzig Post Eagle. Pried off a mail wagon by the Germans after the September 1st 1939 'Battle of the Danzig Post Office'. Originally the property of the Danzig postmen who fought back against the Germans on the first day of WWII. Likely brought back to Germany as loot until 1945 when it would have been confiscated by the Allies, eventually coming into the possession of Louie Dorniak, a Polish man who etched his name on the back of the eagle. Somehow the eagle was brought to New York and eventually forgotten and disposed of. Only by chance did I find it so that its story may continue.

 

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[david680]

One of the neater finds I've seen in a while. Congrats.

 

[Swaveab]

Very good find. I would imagine many would be interested in securing that plaque for history's sake.

 

[trapperart]

Awesome congrats

 

[Loco-Digger]

Awesome save UM, I think they might like that piece in a Polish Museum. You might want to contact this museum.

Strefa Historyczna Wolne Miasto Gda?sk

 

[ajaj]

If not a repro (doubtful), a magnificent find; I mean magnificent! I congratulate you on all the muck you have picked through. Keep it up including the posts.

aj

 

[against the wind]

Sharp eyes saved that one.
Very nicely done.
Congrats.

 

[Johncoho]

That is one fantastic find. If there would be some way to get that into a museum that would be really neat.

 

[Z.K.]

If it all checks out and you are able to restore it to the people who would be grateful for such a testament of their history and survival, I should think this is deserving of both a banner and an honorable mention (though those mechanisms of recognition on this site pale in comparison to the find and what it might mean to survivors and descendants).

Thanks for taking the time to do the research and post it all so thoughtfully.

 

[UnderMiner]

Just found a Polish website that explains where these plaques came from. They were pried off the Danzig mail wagons by German troops after the first battle of WWII on September 1st 1939. The Germans brought the plaques home as trophies celebrating their victory over Denzig as Hitler told them to remove all traces of the old Polish symbols and replace them with Nazi symbols. Late in the war the invading Americans plundered the German's houses and in turn took many of the German's trophies as their own trophies and sent them to the US. Such trophies were called "Hitleryki" by the Polish.

Actual Translation from the Polish website regarding the plaque's origins: Hans Joahim Görlitz with Kosierzewa went to units storming ... Westerplatte. Apparently it belonged to one of the company gathered on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, which went into the depot. One of the serial on request Gorlitz, had loosen plaque with Polish emblem, bolted to the mail wagon. Plaque went to Kosierzewa and as spoils of war, actually typical for the time of the last war, when many of these "gifts" went to the German houses, hung on a wall somewhere. To not far to seek, as did the American soldiers who, after landing in Normandy strewed captured, all sorts of so-called. "Hitleryki" to their families overseas.

A 1939 Danzig mail wagon plaque from a Polish museum, all were Nazi plunder after September 1st 1939:

More info here: GOD?O PA?STWOWE ? WOLNE MIASTO GDA?SK POCZTA POLSKA 1939 | MyViMu Blog

 

[UnderMiner]

If it all checks out and you are able to restore it to the people who would be grateful for such a testament of their history and survival, I should think this is deserving of both a banner and an honorable mention (though those mechanisms of recognition on this site pale in comparison to the find and what it might mean to survivors and descendants).

Thanks for taking the time to do the research and post it all so thoughtfully.

I just found out something that may just make this post a little bit more interesting, after cleaning the back of the plaque I found a name etched on it. "Louie Dorniak". Maybe a really good clue! Edit: Just confirmed this from nameslist.org "Dorniak is a very rare surname, few people in Poland have the family name and might be arised from Poland. Around 627 people have been found who wears Dorniak as their family name. Few people around the world have Dorniak as their surname."

 

[Gridwalker306]

This is a very interesting find, and that name is a mystery you must solve!

 

[bdsawyer]

On ancestry, there is a Louis Frank Dorniak who served with the US Navy in World War II

 

[l2hunt]

Incredible find!

 

[UnderMiner]

On ancestry, there is a Louis Frank Dorniak who served with the US Navy in World War II

It looks like Dorniak may have been a resident of Poland or the Free City of Danzig during the invasion as his last name is more common in Poland than anywhere else. Only a few hundred people in all the world have that last name, and the vast majority were in Poland. A Polish citizen who bore witness to the events of the fall of Danzig would have been one to want this plaque back after the Nazis had plundered them all. I know from my research that no Polish person after September 1st 1939 would have legally been able to own this because Hitler had ordered them all confiscated and replaced by German Eagles. The Danzig Post plaque was issued at the start of 1939 and confiscated by the Germans no more than 9 months after being issued. After 1945 when the Germans surrendered, Mr. Dorniak would have been able to legally get his hands on a 1939 Danzig Post plaque as there were no longer any legal penalties to do so. My theory is he either bought it, or re-captured it. Another theory is that Dorniak was a German... in which case he would have been the one who plundered it in the first place during the invasion of Poland in 1939. But as my research shows, "Dorniak" is not a German last name so this theory has less weight to it. According to nameslist.org only 33 people in the US have the last name "Dorniak", none in Germany, however there are 430 people in Poland with that last name, the name is found no where else on Earth, just a handful in the US, the rest in Poland.

 

[Aureus]

Spectacular find! What an amazing save for the history! Congratulations and thank You!

 

[Chizzy]

Not only a fantastic find, but the history connected to that plaque is stunning!! Great save!!

 

[UnderMiner]

Not only a fantastic find, but the history connected to that plaque is stunning!! Great save!!

Here's a bit more info and pictures I discovered in my research. Unbelievable stuff!

Nazi's take over Danzig, and remove all Polish eagles, replacing them with Swastikas.



Stalin with a Polish Eagle re-captured from the Nazis after WWII.


Many Nazi-plundered Polish eagles were taken by both the Soviet Union and the USA from Germany after WWII ended. Ironically Poland was the last place that the Polish eagles went back to.

Despite overwhelming odds, the postmen of the Free City of Danzig fought back against the invading German forces. To this day their story is still celebrated throughout Poland, making their sacrifice one for the history books. This particular Polish Eagle once adorned the mail wagon of one of those now celebrated Polish heroes. The plaque had only been in place for 9 months before the invading Germans took it and brought it to Germany as loot. At some point, as WWII drew to a close, the eagle was re-captured, possibly by a man named Louie Dorniak - who took the time to etch his name on the back of the eagle. Perhaps still in Dorniak's possession it was brought to New York. Over time the eagle was forgotten and disposed of. By sheer chance I happened to be in the area where it was being disposed and managed to salvage it at the last minute. Now the Eagle's journey can continue. I am so proud to have saved this relic from destruction, and honestly am simply stunned at all the information I have been able to collect about it.

 

[UnderMiner]

Actual video of the Battle of Danzig Post Office. There is a scene where you see a firetruck hose spraying the building, that's not water - it's gasoline. The Germans replaced the water inside the truck with gasoline and ordered the Polish firemen to spray it into the building. The postmen didn't stand a chance. 52 of the 56 Danzig postmen either died in the battle or were executed shortly after, only 4 survived the war.

 

[Carolina Tom]

Congrats on a spectacular find, and a well written post!

Very well done sir!