SOLDIER'S MONUMENT IN WIZNA S.G.O. "NAREW"

On the 15th of October ninety sixty seven/1967 in the center of Wizna, on the main square, a monument devoted to the soldiers of the Independent Operational Group „Narew” was placed. The shape of the monument is linked to the Slavic god Światowid. The four sides of the monument are the faces of soldiers who look in 4 different directions of the world. It is devoted to the members of the Operational Group „Narew”, who died defending their people at the outbreak of the 2nd World War. The monument commemorates the incredible heroism of Polish soldiers who defended Wizna during the September campaign

Wizna’s territory at that time was an important part of the Polish defence line which was two hundred and thirty/230/ km long and ran all the way to Lithuania. A special miitary unit consisting of numerous resistance points was formed to protect the north-eastern front line . Wizna’s region turned out to be a very crucial part of the Narew and Biebrza Rivers defence. It was 9 km long and ran from the villages Grądy Woniecko to Kołodzieje. Among the most important resistance points was the bunker placed on a hill called Góra Strękowa. A 31-year old Captain Władyslaw Raginis was the commander of Wizna sector. On September the 3rd he and his assistant made an oath that they would not leave their positions alive. The Polish forces consisted of seven hundred and twenty /720/ soldiers , 6 military divisions, 24 heavy machine guns, 18 automatic rifles and 2 anti-tank rifles. On the other side there were German forces commanded by Heinz Guderian with 42 thousand soldiers, four hundred and fifty tanks, hundreds of heavy machinery and the support from aviation forces.

The battle in Wizna lasted from the 8th to the 10th of September ninety thirty nine /1939/. The defeat was inevitable but the Polish soldiers stalled the attacking forces for 3 days. When the last bunker was destroyed Captain Raginis ordered his men to surrender and he took his famous last stand blowing himself up with a grenade. The defence of Wizna is often referred to as “Polish Thermophylae” linking this event to the defence of 300 Spartans against thousands of Persians in four hundred and eighty /480/ BC. In the ruins of Raginis’ bunker there is a slab with a famous quote : ”Visitor tell the nation that we fought until the very end fulfilling our obligations”. The captain and his lieutenant were buried near the place they died. In twenty eleven /2011/ DNA tests were carried out to identify the bodies followed by symbolic funerals on Góra Strekowa. A year later the Minister of National Defence promoted posthumously captain Wladyslaw Raginis to the rank of major and lieutenant Stanislaw Brykalski to the rank of Captain

The battle of Wizna inspired the Swedish metal group Sabaton to write a song entitled 40 to 1, paying a tribute to Polish soldiers comparing them to the legendary Spartan warriors.

Author: Marek Szabłowski

TOP