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Pogranicze leszczyńsko-wschowskie w 1939 roku. W 80. rocznicę wybuchu II wojny światowej

100%

Ratajewska B.

Adhibenda

2019

issue 6

103-129

After Poland regained independence, only a small part of the then Wschowa Poviat (currently the Commune of Wijewo and Włoszakowice) was incorporated into Poland, to the Leszno Poviat, which was then within the borders of Poland. The remaining part of the Wschowa Poviat was left in Germany. In this way Wschowa (then Fraustadt) and Leszno became the towns of the Polish and German borderlands. In the direction to Leszno the last village on German’s side was Dębowa Łęka (Geyersdorf) and the first one on Poland’s side Długie Nowe. The Germans felt aggrieved by the resolution of the Versailles Treaty of June 1919. They could not accept, among other things, the fact that some of their territories were incorporated into reborn Poland. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler took the office of the German Chancellor. In subsequent years the Germans systematically violated the provisions of the Versailles Treaty and prepared for war. However, Polish-German relations were correct during the first few years of Hitler’s rule in Germany. On 26 January 1934, both countries signed the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact. The situation changed drastically in autumn of 1938. The Germans proposed a new agreement to Poland. Gdańsk was to be annexed to the Reich, and an exterritorial motorway and railway connecting the Reich with East Prussia was to run through Polish Pomerania. In return, the Germans offered to prolong the validity of the pact of January 1934 up to 25 years. Poland rejected the German proposal. Polish-German relations quickly became increasingly tense and the outbreak of armed conflict was more probable. In March 1939 the Abwehr (German intelligence and counterintelligence services) began establishing battle and sabotage groups in Poland. They recruited the local Germans who were familiar with life in Poland. The Wrocław Abwehr also created such groups in the Province of Poznań. In July 1939 these groups consisted of 2324 people in Poznań. The same was in the borderland Poviat of Leszno. In summer of 1939, a spying group led by Arthur Krämer (40 people) operated in Leszno and Kurt Schlecht’s group (10 people) in the nearby Gronówek. In 1939 German youth more often escaped to the Reich. According to the Provincial Office in Poznań, from January to June 1939, 2 628 people escaped from the Province of Poznań, including 189 from the Poviat of Leszno. In July and August 1939, the number of escapes from the Province of Poznań to Germany increased even more. The reports of the Leszno starost of June and July 1939 mention German fortification works near Wschowa. On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked Poland. The Second World War broke out; it lasted a few years and claimed many millions of lives. On the night of 31 August and 1 September 1939, a few hours before the attack on Poland, the Germans committed acts of sabotage near the boundary between Leszno and Wschowa Poviats. Walther Starke (an officer of the Wrocław Abwehr), who resided in Wschowa, was responsible, among other things, for supervising sabotage groups in the Leszno Poviat. Arthur Krämer mentioned above escaped to Wschowa on 20 August 1939 and then prepared, under Starke’s supervision, a sabotage act whose aim was to support German riots against Poland in Święciechów and Leszno. The operation began on the night of 31 August and 1 September 1939 around 1.00, so a few hours before the war broke out. The group of 25 people under the command of Arthur Krämer and Wilhelm Hirte set off from Wschowa. They attacked the Border Guards post in Długie Nowe but Polish soldiers repelled them. 1 September 1939 was marked by skirmishes with the Grenzschutz units and saboteurs who particularly made themselves felt in Leszno and Święciechów. The Poles, however, managed to repel Germans. Leszno was also shelled by German artillery. One of the best-known events of the second day of the war (Saturday, 2 September 1939) on the Polish-German border in Major Poland (Wielkopolska) was a sortie made by Polish army from Leszno to Wschowa. The sortie was made primarily by the 55th Poznań Infantry Regiment under the command (from November 1935) of Col. Władysław Wiecierzyński. The first sortie unit included the 2nd company of the 1st battalion of the 55th Poznań Infantry Regiment under the command of Captain Edmund Lesisz, a tank platoon, a platoon of heavy machine guns and a platoon of artillery under the command of Captain Ludwik Snitko. The second sortie group included a squadron of TKS light reconnaissance tanks (11 units) under the command of Lieutenant Wacław Chłopik and a squadron of cyclists commanded by Lieutenant Zbigniew Barański. At the same time, a platoon of uhlans commanded by Second Lieutenant Tadeusz Stryja from the 17th King Bolesław Chrobry Uhlan Regiment was in the forest near Wschowa, observing the area and transmitting information via radio. The sortie towards the border with Germany began around 4 p.m. on 2 September 1939. The infantry was transported to the village of Stare Długie. There they prepared to attack and cross the Polish-German border. The attack itself was carried out around 5.30 p.m. The 1st platoon of the 2nd company under the command of Second Lieutenant Stanisław Rybczyński attacked the border crossing; and the 2nd platoon, commanded by Second Lieutenant Władysław Konwiński, captured the German customs office, seizing weapons and ammunition. The 3rd platoon, commanded by Second Lieutenant Stefan Perkiewicz, led an attack in the area between Stare Długie and Geyersdorf. Around 6 p.m. the Polish army captured Dębowa Łęka, which was left in a hurry by its inhabitants. Captain Ludwik Snitko shelled Wschowa with cannons on the orders of General Roman Abraham. A total of thirty-six shells were launched towards the town. It is probable that several German soldiers were killed and a dozen or so wounded. This action caused a lot of commotion. The authority of Wschowa even thought of evacuating civilians to Głogów. The leading unit of this sortie, namely the 3rd platoon commanded by Second Lieutenant Stefan Perkiewicz reached as far as town’s outskirts. The sortie of the Polish army to Wschowa on 2 September 1939 did not have any strategic significance, but it was not its purpose. Thanks to this attack, the morale of the soldiers who crossed the border of the enemy was raised since they captured one of the German villages and shelled the town of Wschowa. In September 1961 the monument commemorating this event was unveiled at the entrance to Wschowa. It is a boulder with a plaque informing about the events of 2 September 1939.

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1 Adhibenda

1 Ratajewska B.

1 2019

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Pogranicze leszczyńsko-wschowskie w 1939 roku. W 80. rocznicę wybuchu II wojny światowej