“80th Anniversary of Home Army Operation Ostra Brama”

Narodowy Bank Polski has announced that silver collector coins “80th Anniversary of Home Army Operation Ostra Brama” are available for sale as of 25 June 2024.

The coin with a face value of 10 złoty is made of 999 purity silver, has a diameter of 32 mm and weighs 14.14 g. It has been minted in up to 10,000 pieces. The coins can be purchased at all the Regional Branches of NBP and in the NBP online shop Kolekcjoner at the price of PLN 220.

The reverse of the coin carries the images of Major Maciej Kalenkiewicz “Kotwicz” and Lt Col  Aleksander Krzyżanowski “Wilk”, as well as the military eagle of the Home Army. The obverse features the symbol of Fighting Poland.

Operation Ostra Brama [Gate of Dawn] was a part of Operation Tempest, which is described as a Polish regional uprising. The concept of the operation was developed by Major Kalenkiewicz  “Kotwicz”, a member of the Silent Unseen. He presented it on 15 April 1944 during a meeting of the command of the Home Army Vilnius District devoted to the uprising.

A detailed plan was elaborated by the staff of the Home Army Vilnius District Commander Lt Col Aleksander Krzyżanowski “Wilk.” Its principal  military objective was to take over Vilnius using only own troops, while the political goal was to manifest the Polish identity of the Vilnius region and to establish Home Army units as hosts before the approaching Red Army forces entered the city.

As the operation was launched earlier than planned, only part of the Polish forces participated in the assault on Vilnius on the night of 6 to 7 July 1944. Two out of five partisan groups from the Vilnius and Nowogródek Districts numbering slightly over 4,000 soldiers were involved in the fighting. These were: Formation no. 1 commanded by Major Antoni Olechnowicz “Pohorecki”, consisting of the 3rd, 8th and 13th Vilnius Brigades, as well as the 3rd and 5th Battalion of the 77th Infantry Regiment of the Nowogródek District; and Formation no. 3 commanded by Major Czesław Dębicki “Jarema”, consisting of the 9th and 12th Brigades and the 1st and 6th Battalion of the Nowogródek 77th  Infantry Regiment of the Home Army. Additionally, about 1,500 soldiers from the Home Army Vilnius Garrison participated in the fighting.

Meanwhile, Formation no. 2 commanded by Major Mieczysław Potocki “Węgielny” – comprising five Vilnius brigades (1st, 2nd, 4th, 23rd and 36th) and nearly 3,000 soldiers strong – was fighting in the north of Vilnius. On 12 July 1944, it engaged in combat with the retreating German forces and clashed with them in the vicinity of Nowosiółki and Krawczuny. Overall, between 5,500 and 8,000 Home Army soldiers fought in the battle for Vilnius lasting from 6 to 13 July 1944, approximately 500 lost their lives and several hundred were wounded.

In the course of the fighting, the Home Army forces engaged in tactical cooperation with the units of the 3^rd Belorussian Front of the Red Army commanded by General Ivan Chernyakhovsky. Four days after the operation ended, the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) insidiously arrested Lt Col Aleksander Krzyżanowski “Wilk” and Home Army officers who had been summoned to a conference with the Soviet command in Bogusze to discuss further collaboration. Afterwards, the Soviets began the demilitarisation of the Home Army units gathered around Vilnius. As a result, over 6,000 Home Army soldiers ended up in prison camps. 650 officers were imprisoned at a camp in Ryazan, the others – in Miedniki Królewskie. This was the beginning of a planned and consistently executed Soviet operation intended to wipe out the structures of the Polish pro-independence underground operating in the eastern parts of the Second Polish Republic.

More information can be found in the brochure.

NBP collector coins and banknotes are sold in commercial packaging with an attached certificate.

The next issue of collector coins is scheduled for 23 July 2024. On that date Narodowy Bank Polski will be putting into circulation a gold coin with a face value of 200 złoty and a silver coin with a face value of 10 złoty – “160th Anniversary of the Death of Romuald Traugutt” .

Contact:

Contact for collectors: e-mail kolekcjoner@nbp.pl, tel. +48 22 185 17 05

Contact for the media: e-mail press@nbp.pl, tel. +48 22 185 2012

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About NBP

Narodowy Bank Polski holds the exclusive right to issue banknotes and coins in Poland. All currency issued by NBP, including collector banknotes and coins, is legal tender in Poland. Issuing collector items is an occasion to commemorate historic figures and anniversaries as well as to develop the interest of the public in Polish culture, science and tradition.

High-resolution images of the coins: https://nbp.pl/en/coins-and-banknotes/collector-coins/catalogue/