On 12 October 1943, the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division – a Polish unit subordinated to the Red Army – received its “baptism of fire”. At the same time, this marked the beginning of the combat route of the so-called People’s Polish Army, commanded by General Zygmunt Berling. Its ranks included primarily those Sybiraks, who, for various reasons, had been unable to reach the Polish Army in the Soviet Union, organised in 1941–1942 by General Władysław Anders.
On 12–13 October 1943, in Belarus near the village of Lenino, a bloody battle took place between the German 4th Army and the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division. The Polish soldiers, who after the suffering of their Siberian exile had received only 64 days of training, suffered enormous losses. For example, during the very first clashes, half of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment was killed.
During the communist period in Poland, the Battle of Lenino was presented as one of the greatest victories in the history of the Polish armed forces. As a result, from 1950 until 1992, its anniversary was celebrated with great ceremony as the Polish Army Day. From a military perspective, however, the battle ended in defeat, as Polish losses amounted to approximately 20 per cent. As the historian Professor Paweł Wieczorkiewicz observed sarcastically, it would have been difficult to imagine a better propaganda beginning to the “historic brotherhood in arms between Poland and the Soviet Union”.
At the permanent exhibition of the Sybir Memorial Museum, we present the combat route of the so-called Berling’s Army, which left the USSR and, after fighting numerous battles, reached Berlin, taking part in the capture of the German capital.
It should be remembered that for the Sybiraks who joined this unit in large numbers, commanded by communist officers, it was the only way to escape from the Soviet hell they had experienced. After the war, they were able to speak about their role in the defeat of Germany. However, during the 45 years of communist rule in Poland, they were forced to remain silent about the horrors of their Siberian exile and the fact that most of them had come from the territories of the Second Polish Republic annexed by the Soviet Union.
Read more about the Sybiraks from General Berling’s Army in an interview with Prof. Karol Olejnik: https://swiatsybiru.pl/pl/nie-zdazyli-do-andersa/