Battle of Wizna 40:1 Modern Polish Thermopylae
Battle of Wizna 40:1 modern Polish Thermopylae. 720 heroic Polish soldiers against 42 200 Germans during WW2. September 7 – September 10, 1939.
This blog is focused on ancient and medieval history but i have to post info about Battle of Wizna beause similarity to famous Battle of Thermopylae.
Battle of Wizna statistics
Polish forces
720 men (20 officers)
Six 76 mm guns
42 MGs – machine guns
2 URs – antitank rifles
German forces
42,200 men
350 tanks
657 mortars, guns and grenade launchers
Aircraft support
Battle of Wizna facts
Brave 720 Poles defended a their homeland 3 days agains huge German odd.
40:1 means an estimated ratio of forces on both sides of battle in fact, with 42,200 Germans and 720 Poles, it is 60:1.
Poles were under command of Captain Wladyslaw Raginis who committed suicide by grenade after surrender.
Poles had only two antitank rifles but they destroyed 10 German tanks and a few armoured cars.
Several dozen of Polish soldiers got to captivity. The rest have fallen in battle. Wizna civilians were murdered.
Polish soldiers filled their oath till the total end. The heroic struggle against overwhelming odds is nowadays one of the symbols of the Polish Defensive War of 1939 and is a part of Polish popular culture.
Battle of Wizna video – 40:1 – Music by Sabaton (Swedish band)
Pictures
Wladyslaw Raginis - Polish commander - Battle of Wizna KIA
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian - German commander - Battle of Wizna
Polish soldiers WW2
Motto of Polish soldiers: “God, Honour, Homeland!”
Great music. Poles were true heroes. 720 vs. 42000 for 3 days? Awsome guys! RESPECT!
Wow! I never heard of this battle.
Sounds unreal but i checked wikipedia for info and the numbers posted in article are real. Respect!!!
I am from Poland and I must say that I also never heared about this battle.
I think it is great that Sabaton wrote this song, because now people who heared this will know that Polish soldiers were very brave. When I first heared
’40 to 1′ I felt proud of my history.
What do you feel when you listen to this song?
I feel a huge respect. Thanks for posting this.
I’m a swede myself and I have the deepest respect for polish history. I’m working on an essay honouring those 720 men.
It is all true. It one of the greatest battle ever fought.
The actual ratio is 59:1.
Polish solders fought number of great battles over the years, check them out:
all won by Poles and their allies:
Battle of Klushino: 4000 Poles against 48000 Russians, won by Poles.
Battle of Chocim: 50-60000 Poles and Cossacks against 150000 Turks
Battle of Vienna: 84000 Poles and Allied forces against 150-300000 Turks
and my personal favourite:
Battle of Kircholm: 3400 Poles against 11000 Swedes,
loses: 100 Poles and 9000 on Swedish side…
as one says: “No army may enter that land
That is protected by Polish hand”
I know it sounds unreal…
Thanks Sabaton for that song. More people are aware of brave Polish soldiers