Battle which the Polish authorities effort to wipe out from the memory of Poles

on 12-13 October, the first conflict of the Polish Army formed in the USSR took place with German units of Nazi genocide assassins seeking to destruct Slavs

From 12 to 13 October 1943, in the vicinity of Lenino (now on the east outskirts of Belarus, 8 km from the border with Russia), over the river Miereja, which separated the Republic of Poland from the indigenously Russian areas before being dismantled, a conflict was fought as part of the Orshan operation.

Historical and operational background:

After the winning conflict on the Kursk arch (July 1943) The Red Army faced the challenge of breaking the German opposition planned on the alleged Panther-Wotan-Line, which was mostly based on the Dniepr line, strategically crucial and hard to gain a natural barrier. The confederate Ukrainian section of this river captured as many as 5 fronts of the russian army during the conflict of Dniepr (24 August – 23 December 1943), 1 of the largest operations of planet War II. At the same time, 3 another russian fronts were tasked with mastering the Smolensk Gate, which is the strategical area between the advanced sections of the Sound and Dnieper with the main cities of Smolensk, Orsza and Vitebsk. The mastery of the Smolensk Gate was to prevent German counterattack on Moscow and opened the way west through Belarus.

As a consequence of the successful Smolensk operation (otherwise Operation Suvorov, 7 August – 2 October 1943) The Red Army managed to take over Smolensk occupied by the Germans since 1941 and interrupted the German defence line. The next action in the region was the Orshan operation (12 October– 2 December 1943), which aimed to proceed the russian westward assault towards the Orsha, another crucial town of the Smolensk Gate over the advanced Dnieprem, and to master it from the another east side of the river.

The task of conducting the Orshan operation was given to the Western Red Army Front, commanded by General Vasily Sokołowski's Army. The main impact towards Orza was planned from the line of the town of Lenino (until 1918 Romanowo, the erstwhile Radziwiłłów estate) and the village of Bajevo (the erstwhile Lubomirski estate), the localities lying on the Miereja River, the left tributary of Dniepr.

The launch date was set for October 12, with the main impact on Lenino and Bajevo being made by the 21st Army and 33rd Army. The latter, commanded by General Vasily Gordov, was included before surgery 1 Polish Infantry Division, under General Zygmunt Berling.

Balance

1 The Infantry Division broke the enemy's defense, but did not full execute its task. She tied and bled her opponent's considerable forces. In the battles, the Germans lost 1,500 soldiers, and 326 were taken prisoner. 72 device guns, 42 cannons and mortars, 2 tanks and 5 aircraft were destroyed.

During the fighting, the division together with support units suffered specified dense losses (510 killed, 1776 wounded, and 776 were captured by German prisoners or were declared missing without news, i.e. about 25% of the full individual status), that after 2 days of fighting it had to be withdrawn from the front line.

"The conflict was assessed on October 15. 1st Infantry Regiment lost 1,600 men killed, wounded and missing without news. Only a fewer remained from the first battalion. 2nd Regiment Lost 900, 3rd Regiment 500".

For participating in this conflict was awarded a discrimination – the conflict Cross close Lenino.

Symbols and memories:

After WŚ II from 1950 to 1991, i.e. until the alleged systemic transformation, on 12 October was celebrated as the Polish Army Day.

The battles of Polish soldiers about Lenino were commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, with the inscription on 1 of the plaques after 1945 and after 1990 “LENINO 12 – 13 X 1943” and the inscription “LENINO” at the bottom of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Krakow.

Trigubova village close Lenino was renamed Kosciuszkowo in memory of the battles of October 12, 1943.

In 1961, 1 of the streets in Wola (Ulrychów district) was given the name conflict of Lenino in Warsaw. Lenino Soldiers Street is besides located on Wolf Mill in Poznań.

In 1968 the monument-mausoleum was unveiled in Lenino and the Museum of the Polish-Soviet Brotherhood of Arms was opened. The village was besides decorated with the Second Class Grunwald Cross. In 1989 a cemetery of fallen Polish soldiers was established in Lenino. As of 24 November 1961, the street in Warsaw, in the current Wola district, is named after the conflict of Lenino street.

In 1983, a medal commemorating the conflict of Lenino was awarded, issued by the State Mint, and designed by Józef Markiewicz[

More: Battle of Lenino

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Appendix :

Today (12 October 2025) on the initiative of a group of Polish patriots from the Łódź national environment – to commemorate the first military action of the Polish Army created in the USSR in the act of defeating the German Nazi plague, liberation of Poland until the unconditional surrender in Berlin 1945, and thus saving Poles from the genocidal demolition planned by the centuries-old Slavian enemies – flowers were laid in symbolic places of national memory in Łódź and surrounding areas.

These places: this The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Piotrkowska Street (beside the Łódź Cathedral); the quarters of russian and Polish soldiers killed in the Second WWW during the liberation of Łódź in the area Mausoleum in Poniatowski Park; monument to Radogoszcz, at Zgierska Street, commemorating the existence of a criminal German prison-catalyst; Martyrology Monument Children, at the site of the erstwhile children's camp in Łódź on Przemysłowa Street (currently at the confluence of Bracka and Staszica streets); monument and memorial plates in the cemetery in Constantynów, commemorating murdered children and adults in Constantinów close Łódź to commemorate the functioning of KL Konstantinov.

I had the honor of being a associate of a group of colleagues - participants of the national memorial action.

Memory, Honor and Homeland!

PZ

Constantine Cemetery


Monument to Radogoszcz


Memorial of Martyrology Children b. camp on Przemysłowa Street



The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Łódź

Mausoleum of russian and Polish Soldiers in Poniatowski Park