Władysław Raginis Władysław Raginis ( June 27 , 1908 – September 10 , 1939 ) was a Polish military commander during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 of a small force holding the Polish fortified defense positions against a vastly larger invasion during the Battle of Wizna . Because the positions were held at great cost for three days before being annihilated with few survivors , Wizna is referred to as the Polish Thermopylae and Captain Raginis as a modern Leonidas . Background . Raginis was born in Dźwińsk ( Daugavpils ) , Russia ( Latvia ) to a landowning family with patriotic traditions . Soon after graduating from a gymnasium in 1927 , he joined the Infantry NCO School in Komorowo near Ostrów Mazowiecki where he was a mediocre student and completed his studies in 1928 . He then completed a short practice of the military and the same year he enrolled at the Infantry Officer s School in Ostrów Mazowiecki . One of his schoolmates recalled : " " He had a borderland accent , and was quiet and shy . Slim , small , blond hair . . . " " After graduating on July 15 , 1930 , he was assigned to the 76th Infantry Regiment stationed in Grodno , where he was a platoon commander and instructor - lecturer at the School Cadet Corps . In 1939 , as a distinction , he was advanced to lieutenant and then to captain and assigned to the elite Border Defence Corps ( KOP ) as the commander of the 3rd company , heavy machine gun battalion , of the Border Defence Corps Regiment " Sarny " under the command of Lt - Colonel Nikodem Sulik . In the late summer of 1939 , the " Sarny " Regiment sent bulk of its forces to Upper Silesia to man the Fortified Area Silesia , some units , including Raginis , instead went to Osowiec Fortress , near border with East Prussia . In anticipation of the outbreak of the Second World War , on September 2 , 1939 , Major Jakub Fober gave Raginis command of all the Wizna Fortified Area , a buffer of between the Narew River and Biebrza River , which was part of defensive line of Independent Operational Group " Narew " on the right wing of Polish forces . " Wizna " secured a major artery of communication , the Łomża – Białystok road and the Zambrów – Osowiec railway . It is worth noting that some of the shelters were incomplete as war broke out , some had little to no ventilation , many of them not camouflaged and some were not fitted with armored observation domes . The incomplete state of the shelters significantly reduced the combat capability of the emplacements . The battle of Wizna . On September 7 Raginis ' forces ( approximately 720 men , out of which roughly 650 were killed ) were attacked by more than 42 , 000 German soldiers . To keep the morale of his men high , Raginis pledged that he would not leave his post alive . The defense of Wizna against overwhelming odds lasted for three days . On September 10 , 1939 , the bunker commanded by Raginis was the last remaining pocket of resistance . Although heavily wounded , Raginis was still commanding his troops . At noon on the third day , the German commander , Heinz Guderian , threatened that all Polish POW s would be shot if the defense of the bunker did not cease . Turning to the rest in the shelter he thanked them for the fact that they were soldiers and did their duty , he then ordered them to surrender themselves and leave the shelter - he would keep his word and not surrender . Seweryn Biegański , who was the last to leave the shelter , describes the moment ; " " The captain looked at me warmly and softly urged me to leave . When I was at the exit , I was hit on my back with strong gust and I heard an explosion . " " Raginis then decided to end the resistance and committed suicide by throwing himself on a grenade . In his diaries , Guderian noted that 900 German soldiers were killed in action , although that number is probably a low estimate . It is certain , however , that the Wehrmacht lost at least 10 tanks and several other AFVs in the struggle . The defense of Wizna , despite the clear imbalance of forces , of which the defenders were aware , was significant . It had pinned down the German forces for two days , allowing the remnants of Polish troops in western Poland to defend the capital , Warsaw . It helped gain time for many Polish units and the government leadership to conduct an orderly withdrawal to the Romanian bridgehead ( ) . The Germans agreed to allow burial of the corpses of Raginis and Lieutenant Stanisław Brykalski by Kazimierz Puchowicz , a friend of Raginis , next to the bunker where a tree was planted as an impromptu memorial . When the Red Army entered Wizna , the Russians ordered that the bodies were dug up and moved next to the Łomża - Białystok road , where today stands an obelisk . His symbolic grave is located next to the ruins of the bunker in which he died . The inscription on the monument tablet says ; Przechodniu , powiedz Ojczyźnie , żeśmy walczyli do końca , spełniając swój obowiązek which translates into English as : Passerby , tell the Fatherland that we fought to the end , fulfilling our duty ( In the style of the epitaph for the soldiers at Thermopylae ) . The family of Raginis was officially notified of his death in Wizna three years later in 1943 when his sister , Maria Morawska , received a notice through the Red Cross . Posthumous honors . The local primary school is named after him , as well as several streets in Poland , including one in Białystok , Rzeszów and Warsaw , The 31st Council of the Polish Scouting Association in Białystok , chose Raginis as their patron in 1969 . On May 13 , 1970 , Raginis was posthumously awarded , by the Council of State of the Polish People ' s Republic , with the Virtuti Militari - Gold Cross ( IV Class ) medal . On August 28 , 2009 he was posthumously awarded , by the President of Poland , with the Order of Polonia Restituta ( Grand Cross ) . On August 21 , 2012 Raginis was posthumously promoted , by the Minister of National Defence Tomasz Siemoniak to the rank of Major . Cultural references . The heroic struggle and death of Raginis has inspired a number of films and videos : 40 : 1 by Sabaton . The Music video and song " 40 : 1 " ( " forty to one " ) by Swedish power metal band Sabaton was featured in their 2008 album , " The Art of War " , as a tribute to the sacrifice of the defenders of Wizna , especially Raginis . In an interview with Rzeczpospolita daily leader of the group , Joakim Brodén , said : " ( a ) Polish fan once sent us information about the battle of Wizna . When we read of the deeds of Captain Władysław Raginis and his friends , it was so incredible for us , a story that first we thought that it could not be true . Such incredible courage to 360 soldiers , 42 thousand resisted ( the ) Germans ! We recognized immediately that the battle is the most interesting history , and of course we wrote a song about it , " 40 : 1 . " " Before their concert in Poland , on October 23 , 2008 the members of Sabaton visited Wizna to pay their respects to the soldiers and Raginis .