Polish First Infantry Division of Interned and Exiled Poles: From Its Formation to the “Battle of Lenino” (May–October 1943)

The article is devoted to the political, military, and demographic aspects of the formation of the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division in the Soviet Union in May 1943. It examines such factors as the number and composition of the contingent of Polish exiled settlers and prisoners of war relocated to the inland regions of the USSR after 1939; the first experience of the formation of the Polish army under the command of W. Anders in 1942–43; the efforts of the Soviet special services to select the leadership for the division and prepare the political ground for its formation. The characteristics of the personality, professional qualities, and political position of the division commander Zygmunt Berling as well as the facts from his biography related to cooperation with the Soviet authorities are also provided. The article analyzes the efforts of the Soviet side aimed at the international legitimization of the Polish 1st Infantry Division, associated with the scrupulous reproduction of the already established Polish military tradition. Much attention in the article is paid to the political and military circumstances of the baptism of fire of the Polish Division, which was given the name “the Battle of Lenino” in Polish historiography. It is shown that despite the rather dubious results of the two-day battle, Soviet diplomacy obtained an opportunity to demonstrate the Soviet-Polish “brotherhood in arms” at the Tehran Conference and received an additional reason for declaring its claim to the post-war structure of Poland. It is noted that the experience of formation of the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division was recognized as successful and became the first step in the formatting of Polish troops, which was rapidly gaining pace with the assistance of the Soviet Union