Topics of coins
The Polish Thermopylae – Zadwórze
On 17 August 1920 – at the same time when
the Polish Army was fighting off the attack of
the Bolsheviks near Warsaw – on the outskirts of
Lwów near the railway station in Zadwórze, Polish
defenders launched a daring aggressive assault
and halted the advance of the overwhelming
forces of the First Cavalry Army of Semyon
Budyonny for many hours, until they ran out
of ammunition. Almost all the defenders from
the unit led by Captain Bolesław Zajączkowski
died in the clash – 318 out of 330 soldiers were
killed, while the commander himself along with
the last remaining defenders decided to commit
suicide in order not to fall into the hands of
the Bolsheviks. In spite of the victory at Zadwórze
Budyonny decided not to seize Lwów, even though
he was only 30 km away from the city. Instead he
hurried towards the Vistula and Wieprz rivers to
support the forces of Mikhail Tukhachevsky, but
as it turned out it was already too late. In this
way the heroic struggle of the Polish defenders
changed the fate of the entire Polish-Soviet war.
In the autumn of 1920 a burial mound was built
at the site of the battle, and the authorities of
the Second Republic of Poland established the Cross
of Zadwórze, which honoured the defenders of
the Polish Eastern Borderlands. One of the coffins
containing the bodies of the defenders of Lwów
from 1918 was buried with full military honours
in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during its
unveiling ceremony on 2 November 1925. This
was a symbolic tribute to all those who selflessly
fought in Lwów and in Zadwórze “for the unity of
Poland’s Eastern Borderlands”.
The reverse of the coin features the image of one of
the defenders of Zadwórze, the 19-year-old sergeant
Konstanty Zarugiewicz, and the War Order of
Virtuti Militari with which he was posthumously
decorated. Zarugiewicz (1901-1920), who was a Polish
Armenian, volunteered to join the unit of Captain
Roman Abraham already on 1 November 1918, as
a student of the 7th grade of the junior secondary
school, and fought in the defence of Lwów. He later
fought against the Ukrainians and the Bolsheviks until
the end of the summer of 1919, and was repeatedly
decorated. After returning home, he began studies at
the Lwów Polytechnic, but interrupted his education
already in the spring of 1920 in order to serve his
country. He was a commandant during the plebiscite in
Spisz, and then re-joined the Volunteer Unit of Captain
Roman Abraham. He was posthumously awarded with
the highest Polish military medal, the Silver Cross of
the Virtuti Militari War Order (established by King
Stanisław August Poniatowski in 1792 and restored
by the Legislative Sejm in 1919), as well as the Cross
of Valour and the Cross of Independence.
The coin dedicated to the Battle of Zadwórze –
referred to as the Polish Thermopylae – opens
the series of coins under this title. In the history
of our homeland we have had many examples
of battles where the Polish soldiers were ready to
sacrifice life and limb in the name of freedom and
independence, even when the overwhelming
forces of the enemy rendered victory impossible
from the very beginning. Konstanty Zarugiewicz
and the remaining soldiers gave their lives in
the Battle of Zadwórze. Were they merely
hopeless romantics, measuring their abilities
on the basis of their aspirations? Or maybe yet
another generation giving testimony: “Poland
has not yet perished, so long as we live”.
The blood that has been spilled for generations
creates an eternal commitment for the living.
Hence the obverse of all the coins from
the series “The Polish Thermopylae” will depict
Athena, the goddess of fair war and wisdom.
The Polish history of battles and wars teaches us
that wisdom has many names. And living is not
always worth more than dying in glory.
Professor Jan Żaryn