Outrage and terror have arrived again to the land martyred through the long war. Quiet, hard-working people of villages and cities are live with a constant threat hanging over their heads. In such conditions all people of the voivodeships of the Eastern Borderlands consider the soldiers of the BPC to be their rightful protectors. Soldiers, you cannot afford to lose this trust. You must become the true protectors of poor people who live in perpetual fear for their life and property. Through your liege and persistent service you must ensure those people order and peace and guarantee their safety. Your name, the name of the soldier of the Corps brought in to protect the borders must be enunciated by the people with trust and respect, and at the same time, be dreaded by the bandits.
An order issued on the 27th of October 1924 by brigadier general Henryk Minkiewicz, commander of the Border Protection Corps
Dangerous peace
Despite the fact that the Polish-Soviet War ended in March of 1921 and that Poland and Russia, later the Soviet Union, theoretically lived in peace, in effect the situation on the eastern border of Poland was far from peaceful for many years to come. Soviet diversion groups encroached on Polish soil time and again in an effort to sow confusion. Theft, mugging, arson, attacks on the railroads… These were just a few of the Soviet actions that took place on the Polish side of the border. The Border Guard was not able to deal with all of them. The Polish government knew that it had to act in a firm manner. A decision was made that in order to secure Polish land, a special, elite unit should be formed in order to maintain peace on the eastern border of the country.
Border Protection Corp – Stalin’s greatest enemy
On the 17th of September 1924 the Border Protection Corp was formed to fulfill these dangerous but necessary tasks. Brigadier general Henryk Minkiewicz was appointed as its commander. The first units started to appear at border stations on the 27th of October 1924. It very quickly proved to be a great success. The soldiers brought peace back to the borderland and the frequency of the Soviet diversive attacks rapidly decreased. It resulted from, among other factors, the elite nature of this formation. Soldiers who came from the eastern region of the borderlands were not permitted to be a part of it. Such a rule ensured with certainty that any single soldier would have no association with the diversive groups and could not fall under their influence. It came as no surprise that the Soviets quickly began to detest the BPC soldiers, hatred which later came to reach its climax.
A chapter closed with a shot in the back of a head
Over the years the Border Protection Corp also guarded the stations on the borders with Lithuania, Romania and even Germany. Unfortunately, the story of this formation was interrupted in 1939. Significantly less numerous than the Red Army, which had been attacking since the 17th of September, the BPc soldiers were doomed to failure. In spite of this fact, under the direct command of general Wilhelm Orlik-Ruckerman since the 31st of August 1939, the soldiers began their struggle to defend Poland, fighting in, among others, the famous battles of Szack and Wytyczne. Unfortunately, many of them ended up as prisoners of war. As members of a formation so hated by the Soviets, most of them could not hope for help. In the spring of 1940 the Soviets murdered many officers and soldiers of the Corps in the Katyn massacre. Among those shot was the first commander of the BPC, major general Henryk Minkiewicz, who had been practically on leave since 1934. Those soldiers who avoided Soviet captivity, continued their actions in conspiracy, coming to create the Committee of Polish Defenders.