On 16 February 1946, in the snowy remnants of erstwhile East Prussia, a 100 and 50 guerrillas of the 3rd Vilnius National Military Unity Brigade faced nearly a 1000 2 100 soldiers of the interior safety Corps, the NKVD, the militia and the Polish Army. 2 and a half hours of fighting, a twelve dead — and a brigade that inactive escaped the lap. Gajrowskie is the biggest clash of Polish underground troops with business forces in 1946.
Expedition to Prussia
Winter 1945 for 1946 was for the underground troops of independency in Podlasie and the land of Łomżyń during the trial. The Communist repression apparatus — the safety Office supported by units of the interior safety Corps, the russian NKVD, the militia and the regular Polish Army — tightened the loop around those who did not lay down their weapons. It was during these weeks that the 3rd Vilnius Brigade of the National Military Unity, the largest compact partisan unit in the area with about 1 100 and 50 people, moved north — towards the erstwhile East Prussia, to the area of present-day Mazury.
It was commanded by Captain Romuald Rajs “Bury” — pre-war officer of the Polish Army, veteran of the 3rd and 5th Vilnius Home Army Brigade. After the dissolution of the AK, he did not hang up his firearm on the stake: he continued to fight in the ranks of the NZW, and the unit he led was codenamed "Chrobry". They were mostly Vilnius — soldiers who lost their home sides behind Curzon’s line and for whom “for our freedom and yours” was not an empty slogan, but a promise that the Republic would yet appeal to them.
Photo/scan: “A voice from Narwi” GLOS-znad-Narwi-BRZOZOWO-┼ÜLIOWIn a boiler close Gajrowski
On 16 February 1946, the brigade was located in the area of the village of Gajrowskie in the territory of Ełcki. For the enemy, this was an chance he was waiting for: a vast, military ringing would close around the guerrillas and choke opposition with 1 stroke. Against the 100 and 50 people of the “Burego” communists cast force many times greater — about a 1000 2 100 CWB soldiers, NKVD officers, militias and regular troops of the Polish Army. 8 times the number of opponents with dense weapons and free maneuvering had all the advantages on their side.
However, the Partisans were not amazed or crashed since the first strike. On both sides there was a series of device guns and individual firearm firings, and snowy fields between the buildings turned into a battlefield. A fierce defensive conflict began, which was about 1 thing: to halt the resistance, to hold on to the positions and to cut off the way out of the clamping boiler. At each moment, more "ministerial" divisions arrived, expanding the numerical advantage of the communist side seeking a full lap.
However, the breakthrough was not the advantage in humans but in fire. erstwhile the infantry was incapable to break through fiercely defending guerrillas, the communists reached for dense weapons. The mortars and small-caliber cannon even filled Polish positions with missiles. It's artillery and mortar fire, not a rifle, he pulled a breach in guerrilla defence — due to the fact that where a soldier and a soldier were fighting, the communists' advantage was not so obvious.
Photo/scan: “A voice from Narwi” GLOS-znad-Narwi-BRZOZOWO-┼ÜLIOWTwo and a half hours
Fear lasted about 2 and a half hours — incredibly long as at the start, in which 1 side had an 8 - time lead. It is in itself a measurement of discipline, training and determination of the people of “Burego”. erstwhile it became clear that maintaining a tight formation would mean the demolition of the full brigade, Captain Rajs made the decision to break through. And this is the essence of Gaius: not the defeat of the broken army, but the puncture—the maneuver that went nevertheless.
Those whose names have no right to erase the national memory took the cover. 2 officers were the commander of the shield platoon: Lieutenant Władysław Jurasov “Wiarus” and Lieutenant Boguszewski “Bitny”. "Wiarus" — Vilnius, officer of the 3rd Vilnius NZW Brigade — belonged to those who came here from the farlands to proceed fighting for Poland. Together with “Bitny” he held the positions of the platoon, which insured the departure of the full brigade of Captain “Burego”. They both died. It was thanks to the likes of them that the 100 and 50 men were not left under the Gajrowskis.
Most troop soldiers withdrew from the boiler — individually and in tiny groups, sipping through the ringing of a roundabout under cover of falling dusk and freezing night. However, the losses were severe: 12 to 15 guerrillas, including the officers mentioned, were killed in the fight under the Gajrowskis. For a branch of this size, it was a painful blow — the failure of nearly 1 in 10 soldiers, and among them a commanding staff, which could not be restored quickly.
Price and importance
The conflict of Gajrowski was recorded as the biggest clash of Polish underground troops with business troops in 1946. It was not a triumph in the classical sense — the battlefield remained on the side of the communists, the rolling stock and any of the equipment were lost, and the brigade had to disperse. But it was besides not the division that the opponent hoped for. 8 times the weaker squad eluded from the planned with the momentum of the operation, inflicting casualties on the attackers and retaining the combat capability for the following months.
After withdrawing from East Prussia, the brigade moved to the area of Łomżyński and later the territory of advanced Mazowieckie. Captain Rajs reorganized a branch that was about to reprove for his — as early as the spring of 1946, in subsequent battles on Podlasie, including under the Brzozow-Antonias and the Liv, where there was a uncommon association of NZW guerrillas and the Home Army at the time. Thus, Gajrowski did not end the fight “Burego” — they were her heaviest but not the last chapter.
The commander himself was to pay the highest price. Arrested in 1948, sentenced to death in a show trial, Captain Romuald Rajs "Bury" was murdered by a shot in the back of the head on December 30. specified a destiny met the best — those whose communist "people's authority" was most feared due to the fact that they embodyed the continuity of the Republic of the faithful deviation of God, Honor, Homeland.
Photo/scan: “A voice from Narwi” GLOS-znad-Narwi-BRZOZOWO-┼ÜLIOWMemory
For decades, the memory of the Cursed Soldiers was silent — for the communist state was uncomfortable and frequently banned. present we know that on the February day of 1946, a fistful of Vilnius and Podlasian faced a force against which they had no chance in arithmetic — yet they survived. That Lt. “Wiarus” Jurasov and Lt. “Bitny” Boguszewski gave their lives so that their colleagues could fight further. And that the puncture from below the Gaius became a symbol of more than 1 battle: proof that freedom can be defended besides erstwhile all number says it is besides late.
The voice from Narva calls for this memory not to ignite the erstwhile disputes, but to give justice to those who in cold February 1946 did not ask for opportunities, but for duty. Hello, their memory.
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