The Massacre in Zakroczym,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, took place on 28 September 1939 when, in spite of a cease-fire, soldiers of Panzerdivision Kempf stormed Polish positions at

Zakroczym Zakroczym (; yi, זאקראטשין ''Zakrotshin'') is a small town in the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located at around . The Vistula River flows through the town. Zakroczym has a long and rich history: in the Kingdom of Poland and the ...

, where soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division were getting ready to surrender. Hundreds of Polish soldiers were murdered.Szymon Datner: Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu na jeńcach wojennych w II wojnie światowej. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo MON, 1961. The rest were beaten and abused. Many civilians were killed or wounded. German troops broke into houses, robbed them, set on fire, and tossed hand grenades into the basements filled with scared civilians. Kazimierz Szczerbatko estimated, based on the testimony of the eyewitnesses, that the Germans killed around 500 soldiers and 100 civilians. The massacre might have been revenge for the

Battle of Mława The Battle of Mława, otherwise known as the Defence of the Mława position, took place to the north of the town of Mława in northern Poland between 1 and 3 September 1939. It was one of the opening battles of the Invasion of Poland (1939), Inva ...

which cost the Germans 1,800 killed, 3,000 wounded, 1,000 missing, and where Panzer Division Kempf lost 72 tanks in spite of using Polish civilians as human shields chased in front of their tanks.

References

1939 in Poland Massacres in 1939 Massacres in Poland

Nazi war crimes in Poland World War II prisoner of war massacres by Nazi Germany September 1939 events {{World-War-II-stub

See also

References