Modern/Post-War Photos

Jabłonków Incident August 1939 #2

Jablonkow Pass tunnel According to Adolf Hitler's order, the invasion of Poland was planned for 4:25 a.m., on August 26, 1939. However, on August 25, the attack was delayed because on that day the German Chancellor learned that Britain had signed a new treaty with Poland, in which it promised military support if Poland was attacked. Nevertheless, the situation along the Polish - German and Polish - Slovak border was tense, as a number of German agents were ready to take action against Polish outposts (see Operation Himmler). One of these groups was commanded by Abwehr officer Lieutenant Hans Albrecht Herzner of Abwehrstelle Breslau, who later became commandant of the Nachtigall Battalion, the first foreign legion of the Wehrmacht. The task of the Herzner's unit that was to capture the strategic Jablonkow Pass, protect the tunnel from destruction, and keep it open for the advancing units of the Wehrmacht. The Jabłonków Pass, which separates mountain ranges of Moravian-Silesian Beskids and the Silesian Beskids, is one of the most important transport routes in the Western Carpathians. In the fall of 1938, together with the territory of Zaolzie, it was annexed by the Second Polish Republic; therefore, Poland controlled a key railroad connection, the Košice-Bohumín railway line. The rail tunnel and the station at Jabłonków are part of the line. The Germans knew that failure to capture the line and the tunnel would seriously affect Wehrmacht moves in southern Poland