The monument to General Franciszek Kleeberg in Kock, photographed in December 2024. The white letters read “I know you will stand when you are needed.” Photo: MOs810, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Quick answer
On 6 October 1939 the soldiers of General Franciszek Kleeberg's Independent Operational Group Polesie heard their commander's farewell order and laid down their arms at Kock, in the Lublin region. They had fought the German army there for four days and were not beaten, but they had run out of ammunition, food and medical supplies. Kock was the last battle of the regular Polish army in the defensive war of 1939, five weeks after the German invasion.
The last battle
By the start of October Kleeberg's group was operating around Radzyń and Kock. The history service dzieje.pl puts its strength at about 18,000 to 20,000 men. On 2 October it ran into the German 13th Motorized Infantry Division of General Gustav von Wietersheim's XIV Motorized Corps, and four days of fighting followed. As late as 5 October men of the 60th Infantry Division and Polish cavalry were still attacking the German left.1
But the Polish guns and rifles were running out of ammunition, and there was no food and nothing to treat the wounded. On the evening of 5 October Kleeberg wrote his last order, judging that further fighting offered no hope and would only spill soldiers' blood that might still be needed. On 6 October the order was read to the troops; before surrendering they destroyed or buried part of their weapons. Kleeberg laid down his arms as the last Polish general to do so in the campaign, and more than 16,000 officers and men went into German captivity.2
Sources date the end of the campaign differently: the Polish education ministry's platform gives 5 October 1939, the day of the decision, while the surrender itself took place on 6 October. Kleeberg died in a German military hospital in Dresden on 5 April 1941, and his remains were brought back to the war cemetery at Kock for the battle's thirtieth anniversary.3
From 2 to 5 October 1939, with the surrender on 6 October. It was the last battle of the regular Polish army in the September Campaign.
Who commanded the Polish forces at Kock?
General Franciszek Kleeberg, commander of the Independent Operational Group Polesie, a force of about 18,000 to 20,000 men by the estimate of dzieje.pl.
Why did Kleeberg surrender at Kock?
His troops had run out of ammunition, food and medical supplies after four days of fighting. In his last order he judged that further fighting offered no hope and would only waste soldiers' lives.
What happened to the soldiers after the surrender?
More than 16,000 officers and men went into German captivity. Kleeberg died in captivity in 1941 and was later reburied at the war cemetery in Kock.
Notes
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