Władysław Raginis
| Władysław Raginis | |
|---|---|
Captain Władysław Raginis
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| Born |
June 27, 1908 Dvinsk (Daugavpils), Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | September 10, 1939 (aged 31) Strękowa Góra near Wizna, Poland |
| Service/branch | Border Defense Corps (KOP) |
| Years of service | 1930–1939 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Regiment "Sarny" |
| Commands held | CO of Polish forces in Wizna |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
 
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Władysław Raginis (June 27, 1908 – September 10, 1939) was a Polish military commander during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 of a small force holding the Polish fortified defense positions against a vastly larger invasion during the Battle of Wizna. Because the positions were held at great cost for three days before being annihilated with few survivors, Wizna is referred to as the Polish Thermopylae and Captain Raginis as a modern Leonidas.
Raginis was born in Dźwińsk (Daugavpils), Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Latvia) to a landowning family with patriotic traditions. Soon after graduating from a gymnasium in 1927, he joined the Infantry NCO School in Komorowo near Ostrów Mazowiecka where he was a mediocre student and completed his studies in 1928. He then completed a short practice of the military and the same year he enrolled at the Infantry Officers School in Ostrów Mazowiecka. One of his schoolmates recalled:
"He had a borderland accent, and was quiet and shy. Slim, small, blond hair .... "
After graduating on July 15, 1930, he was assigned to the 76th Infantry Regiment stationed in Grodno, where he was a platoon commander and instructor-lecturer at the School Cadet Corps. In 1939, as a distinction, he was advanced to lieutenant and then to captain and assigned to the elite Border Defence Corps (KOP) as the commander of the 3rd company, heavy machine gun battalion, of the Border Defence Corps Regiment "Sarny" under the command of Lt-Colonel Nikodem Sulik.
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Wikipedia