Another one of Sabaton’s timeless classics and an absolute fan favorite, I guess. It’s one of those songs that fans want to hear them play, and Sabaton approves of that.
This week on Sabaton Saturday, the start of World War II in 1939. The year that the Germans invaded Poland and sparked the flame of war in Europe.
One of the Wizna bunkers, now a war memorial
Why did the Nazi’s invade Poland all of a sudden? The sneaky bastards provoked the attack themselves. On the 31st of August 1939 there was the “Gleiwitz incident” at the German radio station “Sender Gleiwiz” in Gleiwiz.
This “incident” was actually a ‘False Flag’ operation, or in other words, a staged attack. Nazi’s, dressed up as Polish soldiers, attacked the radio station
to broadcast an anti-Germany message.
As an act to make the attack seem more real, the Germans murdered the unmarried Franciszek Honiok. A 43-year-old German, known for feeling sympathies for the Polish. They dressed him up to look like a saboteur, gave him a lethal injection, shot him so he would have gunshot wounds and left him at the scene.
Polish Infantry
What followed was a terrible reaction of Adolf Hitler. He ordered that, as revenge, the Germans would invade Poland, a day after the “incident”. The Nazi forces entered Poland from the north, south and west, advancing through Polish territory, the Polish forces retreated.
One group of soldiers stood their ground at Wizna. There were only between 350 and 720 Poles defending a fortified line, but they held it for three days against more than 40,000 Germans.
Eventually the well-known German panzers broke through the Polish line and eliminated all bunkers, one by one.
Captain Wladyslaw Raginis
The symbol of this battle is the commander of this Polish force, Władysław Raginis. He swore to hold his position as long as he was alive, very much like the Belgian Chausseurs Ardennais. Sadly, after the three days holding off the Germans, it came to be that only two bunkers were left. Out of ammunition he ordered his men to surrender and then committed suicide.
