The heroic Battle of Wizna is one of the most valiant episodes of the 1939 Polish Defensive War. It has fought on 7-10 September 1939, during the German Invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War.
Around 720 Poles under Capt. Raginis had 42.000 Wehrmacht soldiers of the XIX Army Corps under General Heinz Guderian against them, but they managed to defend a fortified line. They were fighting for three days without rest or sleep. Raginis swore he would hold position and fight Germans as long as he was alive.
Capt. Raginis had sworn an oath before the battle that he would not give up the defended positions alive. When the Poles started losing the battle, he told his troops to surrender and committed suicide by throwing himself on a grenade.
Wizna, sometimes called Polish Thermopylae, compares the Polish forces with the legendary 300 Spartan warriors.
Listen to the Swedish Sabaton singing ”40:1” about the Polish heroes:
„No army may enter that land
That is protected by Polish hand
Unless you are 40 to 1
Your force will soon be undone”
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Polish forces:
720 men (20 officers)
Six 76 mm guns
42 MGs – machine guns
2 URs – antitank rifles
German forces:
42,200 men
350 tanks
657 mortars, guns and grenade launchers
Aircraft support
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Nel Badowska
Photos: Twitter @PL1918ENG, British Poles
