The Dabrowski Battalion, also known as Dąbrowszczacy (), was a battalion of the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. It was initially formed entirely of volunteers, "chiefly composed of Polish miners recently living and working in France and Belgium".Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, p. 324 Due to the relatively short travelling distances, these men were amongst the first to arrive in Spain. The battalion had a strong Polish flavour and even when, towards the end of the war, Poles were heavily outnumbered by Spanish troops, the officers and non-commissioned officers were still predominantly Polish. It also contained a significant nucleus of

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

officers. It fought from 1936-1939. The battalion was raised in

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

(the headquarters depot of the

) in mid-October 1936.

Soldiers

About 5,000 Poles fought in the unit. The brigade was named after the 19th-century Polish general

Jarosław Dąbrowski Jarosław Żądło-Dąbrowski (; 13 November 1836 – 23 May 1871), also known as Jaroslav Dombrowski, was a Polish nobleman (szlachta member) and military officer in the Imperial Russian Army, a Polish nationalist and radical republican for ...

. The unit was formed as ''Dąbrowski's

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

'' in October 1936. In June 1937 it was reorganised into the ''150th Brigade'', which was renamed to the ''13th Dąbrowski's International Brigade'' in August. The brigade was demobilized in 1938 but volunteered back to service in 1939. On 9 January it crossed the French border and was finally dissolved; most of its soldiers were interned. Most of the Dabrowski Battalion were

Polish communists Communism in Poland can trace its origins to the late 19th century: the Marxist First Proletariat party was founded in 1882. Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (''Socjaldemokracja Króle ...

. For their communist orientation they were condemned by the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, which cancelled the citizenship of many of them (in spite of the fact that Poland was the second-largest arms supplier to the Republic, just after the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

). On the other hand, they were portrayed as heroes in the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

; many of them served in the Berling Army,

Armia Ludowa The People's Army (AL; ; ) was a communist partisan force of the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) active in Occupied Poland during World War II from January to July 1944. It was created on the order of the Soviet-backed State National Council to figh ...

and Gwardia Ludowa during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Commanders

* Stanisław Ulanowski (October – 21 November 1936) * Antoni Kochanek (21 November 1936 – 2 January 1937) * Józef Strzelczyk „Jan Barwiński” (16 April – 15 July 1937) * Wacław Komar właśc. Mendel Kossoj (15 July 1937 – 13 February 1938) * Franciszek Księżarczyk (13–16 February 1938) * Antoni Pietrzak (16 February – 17 March 1938) * José Martinez (17 March – 3 September 1938) * Emiliano Chamon (3–24 September 1938)

Operational history

Formation

This battalion was originally part of ''XI Brigada Movil'' ("11th Mobile Brigade") which was formed 14–17 October 1936. The volunteers were grouped by language into four battalions to make communication easier. On 22 October 1936, the IX Brigada Movil was renamed the

XI International Brigade The XI International Brigade fought for the Spanish Second Republic in the Spanish Civil War. It would become especially renowned for providing desperately needed support in the darkest hours of the Republican defense of Madrid on 8 November 193 ...

(also known as the ''13th Hans Beimler Brigade''), with General "Kléber" ( Manfred Stern) commanding. The four component battalions were renamed as follows: * 1st Bn Franco-Belge became Commune de Paris Battalion. * 2nd Bn Austro-German became Edgar André Battalion * 3rd Bn Italo-Espanol became

Garibaldi Battalion The Garibaldi Battalion (The Garibaldi Brigade after April 1937) was a largely-Italian volunteer unit of the International Brigades that fought on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War from October 1936 to 1938. It was named after Giusepp ...

* 4th Bn Polish-Balkan became Jarosław Dąbrowski Battalion, commanded by Major Tadeusz Oppman. * An entirely Spanish volunteer unit - the Asturias-Heredia Battalion - was added after the

Battle of Madrid The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Oct ...

to bring the brigade up to strength.

Siege of Madrid

By early November, the

Siege of Madrid The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Second Spanish Republic, Republican-controlled Spain, Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, ...

was underway and the need for men was great. The 600-man strong :ES:Brigada Dabrowski Dabrowski Battalion, along with the rest of

were the first units of the

to go into action. The Dabrowski Battalion was in the thick of the action - at the University City and

Casa de Campo The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the R ...

- losing two thirds of its men. It was subsequently reinforced by new volunteers arriving from

and by Spanish volunteers, and reorganised into three Polish/Balkan companies and one Spanish company.

Battle of Jarama

The Dąbrowski Battalion, as part of the XII brigade, was sent to

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

, a few kilometres from Madrid, to block a Nationalist attack. The Nationalist aim was to take the main Madrid to Valencia highway and thus cut Madrid off from Andalusia, where the Republican government was based. The fighting was ferocious with all five

engaged along a continuous front.Hugh Thomas, ''The Spanish Civil War'', pg. 490 At Jarama, the battalion was commanded by Józef Strzelczyk. During the course of the battle, the battalion lost a third of their effectives (6–27 February 1937).

Order of battle

The Dabrowski Battalion served as part of several brigades. As its numbers were reduced by casualties, it absorbed various other understrength international battalions, supplemented by Spanish conscript companies, but it never again reached full strength. It was disbanded in September 1938.

Notes and references

* Hugh Thomas, ''The Spanish Civil War''

External links

Dąbrowszczacy – obrońcy Republiki i demokracji

Krytyka Polityczna ''Krytyka Polityczna'' (; "The Political Critique") is a network of Polish left-wing intellectuals. The network is based around a journal of the same name founded by Sławomir Sierakowski in 2002, but is open to voices from across the political s ...

{{Authority control International Brigades Military units and formations established in 1936 Military units and formations disestablished in 1939 Poland–Spain military relations