Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970

The Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970 in Gdańsk – three soaring steel crosses with anchors on Solidarity Square, outside Gate No. 2 of the former shipyard – honors workers killed when the communist authorities crushed protests in December 1970. Unveiled on December 16, 1980, it was the first monument to victims of communist oppression ever erected in a communist-ruled country. It is free to visit at any hour and one of the defining images of Gdańsk.

Where it is

Solidarity Square lies about 15 minutes' walk north of Gdańsk Główny station, right next to the European Solidarity Centre. Gdańsk Airport (GDN) is about 15 km away.

The story behind it

In December 1970, food price hikes sparked strikes along Poland's Baltic coast. On December 16, 1970, security forces opened fire on shipyard workers leaving through Gate No. 2, killing two and wounding eleven; more deaths followed in Gdańsk and Gdynia over the next days. For a decade the victims could not be publicly mourned.

Building a monument was one of the strikers' demands in August 1980. A citizens' committee was set up the day after the strike ended, backed by Solidarity leaders including Lech Wałęsa and Anna Walentynowicz. The authorities tried to scale it down to a plaque or move it away from the shipyard, but failed. The monument was built without state money: by December 12, 1980, public collections had raised 20 million złoty.

Tens of thousands attended the unveiling on the tenth anniversary of the shootings. At 5 p.m. church bells rang and factory sirens sounded across the city, and Krzysztof Penderecki's "Lacrimosa," composed for the occasion, was performed. Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher and President George H. W. Bush all later paid their respects here.

What to see

• Three crosses, each 42 meters tall and weighing 42 tons, commemorating the first three workers killed
• Three anchors of 2 tons each, symbols of hope linked to the protests of 1956, 1970 and 1980
• Stainless steel reliefs at the base showing shipyard life, one bearing lines by Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz
• An inscription in five languages, including English and German
• A wall of about 40 plaques with the 21 strike demands of 1980, a verse from Psalm 29 and the names of the victims

Is it worth visiting?

Yes. Even a 15-minute stop gives a powerful sense of what happened here, and it pairs naturally with the European Solidarity Centre's museum next door and the BHP Hall where the 1980 agreements were signed. The square is flat and wheelchair-accessible. Anniversary ceremonies on December 16–17 and August 31 draw large crowds.

Getting there

Walk from the Main Town (about 20 minutes) or from Gdańsk Główny station. The nearest SKM commuter rail stop is Gdańsk Stocznia; trams also stop at Solidarity Square. There is paid parking at the European Solidarity Centre. Entry is free.

Nearby

• European Solidarity Centre, about 100 m away
• Gate No. 2 of the Gdańsk Shipyard
• BHP Hall, where the August Agreements were signed