City

Grodno in the war

4 articles · 1939–1944

In September 1939 Grodno held out longer than any other large city of the eastern borderlands: from 20 to 22 September several thousand soldiers, policemen, volunteers, scouts and schoolboys fought Soviet tank brigades. After taking the city, the Soviets shot about 300 defenders and inhabitants, according to the findings of Polish historians. The Germans took Grodno on 23 June 1941, and the Red Army captured it on 16 July 1944.

1939

17 September 1939EventThe Soviet invasion of PolandAt dawn on 17 September 1939 the Red Army entered Poland without a declaration of war, carrying out the secret protocol of its pact with Germany.
17 September – 6 October 1939BattleSoviet invasion of PolandFrom 17 September 1939 the Red Army occupied eastern Poland, resisted by the KOP, Grodno, Lwów and Orlik-Rückemann's group. Fighting went on into October.

1941

22 June – 9 July 1941BattleBattle of Białystok–MinskFrom 22 June to 9 July 1941 Army Group Centre encircled the Western Front's main forces at Białystok and Minsk. The Germans claimed over 320,000 prisoners.

1944

22 June – 29 August 1944BattleOperation BagrationFrom 22 June to 29 August 1944 four Soviet fronts destroyed Army Group Centre in Belarus and reached the Vistula, the Narew and East Prussia.

People

Born or died here

Juliusz RómmelCommander of the 1st Cavalry Division (1920), army inspector (1929–1939), commander of the Łódź Army and the Warsaw Army (1939), major general