Soviet raid on Stołpce refers to the events of the night of August 3/4, 1924, when a group of 150 Soviet agents, commanded by Lieutenant Boryshkevich, raided the town of Stołpce (now Stowbtsy,

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

), which back then was a railroad border crossing between 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 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The raid ended in temporary capture of the town, and destruction of a police station, railroad station, and several houses.

Background

After the Polish-Soviet War, the border between the two countries was established roughly along the 1400-kilometer line going from the

Daugava The Daugava ( ltg, Daugova; german: Düna) or Western Dvina (russian: Западная Двина, translit=Západnaya Dviná; be, Заходняя Дзвіна; et, Väina; fi, Väinäjoki) is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russ ...

in the north, to the

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and ...

in the south - east of the line marked by the towns of Wilejka - Baranowicze - Luniniec - Sarny - Rowne -

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

. The town of Stołpce therefore became part of the

, and was a border rail station along the main European rail line

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Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

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. Newly established Polish - Soviet border from the beginning was marred by violence. The Soviets regarded it as temporary, and, hoping to ignite a revolution in Poland, carried out a guerilla war against the Polish authorities. At the same time, the Poles supported an anti-Soviet Belorussian partisan movement, and

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history str ...

teams also penetrated into the Soviet area. In one of the most famous incidents of this kind, Soviet agents captured a passenger train from

Pinsk Pinsk ( be, Пі́нск; russian: Пи́нск ; Polish: Pińsk; ) is a city located in the Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pi ...

to Luniniec. This event took place on September 24, 1924, near the village of Lowcza, and the Soviets were commanded by Trofim Kalinienko. Among passengers of the train, there were local personalities -

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

of Polesie Voivodeship Stanislaw Downarowicz, Roman Catholic bishop Zygmunt Łoziński of

and

, and well-known Senator of the

, Boleslaw Wyslouch. After robbing all valuables, the attackers escaped into Soviet territory. Before escaping, Kalinienko handed a “receipt” to train conductor. It stated: “

Ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military comma ...

Trofim Kalinienko, Headquarters Timkowicze (Now Tsimkavichy, Belarus)”Association of Veterans of Polish Border Units
/ref> Originally, the border was guarded by units of the

Polish Police Policja () is the generic name for the national police force of the Republic of Poland. The Polish police force was known as ''policja'' throughout the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939), and in the modern Republic of Poland since 1990. Its cu ...

, but the situation was getting out of control, and the government in Warsaw knew it had to find a solution. Altogether, in the year 1924, along the Polish - Soviet border there were some 200 raids, in which around 1000 Soviet agents participated, and at least 54 people died.Wojciech Materski "Na widecie. II Rzeczpospolita wobec Sowietów 1918-1943”. Warszawa 2005, Wyd. ISP PAN i oficyna "Rytm" Year 1924 was by far the worst, especially summer and autumn. In the night of July 18/19, 1924, some 30 armed Soviet agents attacked the village of Wiszniew, located in

Wolozyn Valozhyn, Vałožyn or Volozhin ( be, Вало́жын, , russian: Воло́жин, lt, Valažinas, pl, Wołożyn, yi, וואָלאָזשין ''Volozhin''; also written as Wolozin and Wolozhin) is a town in the Minsk Region of Belarus. The pop ...

county of Nowogródek Voivodeship. During the raid, the perpetrators stole the valuables, and a skirmish ensued, during which commandant of Polish Police station was killed. Raids also took place in Polish part of

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

, where manor houses and villages were robbed, and horses were stolen. Polish authorities knew well who stood behind these raids, and what was their real purpose. In 1925, Colonel Juliusz Ulrych of freshly created Border Protection Corps (Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP) wrote: “The Soviets have undertaken the plan to capture eastern lands of Poland, even though there is no official war. They want to use these provinces as a foreground of their struggle, in which the sphere of influence of Russian statehood would dominate over the sphere of influence of Poland. Therefore we witness immense activities of diversionary nature, with widespread Communist groups, willingly supporting banditry”.

Raid on Stołpce

The raid on Stołpce, which was described as “uniquely brazen” took place in the night of August 3/4, 1924. It was a well-organized, meticulously planned action, carried out by a group of 150 Soviet agents, divided into four platoons. Apart from handguns and grenades, the perpetrators had three machine guns. Those who were captured by Polish police officers, stated that they had been trained for the mission by Soviet officers in Minsk, the capital of Soviet Belarus. The purpose of the raid was to free two imprisoned Communist activists. According to some Polish sources, the raid, as well as other incidents of this kind along the border, was organized by Zakordonnyj Otdiel (Zakordot), a Soviet agency created in

in 1920, whose purpose was to destroy eastern Poland. These sources claim that agents of Zakordot carried out the raid, during which they destroyed Stołpce's Police Station, rail station and post office, and kidnapped a number of Polish citizens. After the raid, the invaders returned to the Soviet Union, but due to the diplomatic consequences of that action, Moscow decided to cease its program of peacetime attacks on its neighbors, preferring to start preparations for wartime sabotage and diversion under the authority of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

Intelligence Directorate Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet raid on Stolpce Western Belorussia (1918–1939) Poland–Soviet Union relations 1924 in Poland Second Polish Republic 1924 in the Soviet Union Military raids Conflicts in 1924 August 1924 events Terrorist incidents in Second Polish Republic