Anniversary Celebrations of the Battle at Wkra River and Family Fest in Joniec

For the past few years at the municipality of Joniec, there has been a celebration and a family fest held to commemorate the Battle at Wkra River. The battle took place from August 14 to 16, 1920 as part of the Warsaw Battle during the Polish-Bolshevik War. It is considered one of the twenty most decisive military encounters in history.
The battle started as an aggressive action of the 5th Army led by general Władysław Sikorski against larger Bolshevik forces involving two armies. On the Polish side, there were 22 thousand bayonets, 3800 swords, 452 heavy machine guns, 141 cannons, 57 tanks and armored vehicles and 2 armored trains, fighting against 68 thousand bayonets, 6600 swords, 1406 heavy machine guns and 327 cannons in the Bolshevik army.
The main attack was delivered by a unit of general Franciszek Krajowski, that charged in the north-west direction. After heavy fighting in which the Bolsheviks gained hold of two Modlin forts, Polish military started to win. The decisive strike on Ciechanów came from the 203rd Cavalry Regiment, which cut the communications between the headquarters and soldiers of the IV Soviet Army, resulting in paralysis of its forces. Another crucial factor was the capture of the Modlin-Mława train line by a division led by general Krajowski. On August 16, 1920, Nasielsk was given up by the Bolsheviks who had fought hard to keep the town, but sustained heavy casualties and retreated to the river Narew. The objective of the Polish 5th Army, as expressed by the Commander of the Northern Front general Haller, was reached. It meant the relief of pressure of the Soviet Red Army on Warsaw.

The commemoration of the anniversary of the Battle at Wkra starts with a field mass held in the intention of Homeland and Defenders of Mazovia. In 2019, the mass was combined with harvest festivities, prepared by the parish of Joniec. After mass, there is a procession to the parish cemetery in order to lay flowers and light candles on the common military grave and at the Memorial of Polish Soldiers Perished in 1920

Following these celebrations, there is a family fest adhering to the formula of ” a little something for everyone”. A permanent element of the program is a brass concert given by youth from Joniec. There are games for kids, shows including LED or pyrotechnic displays, performances by invited musical groups and dances. Local artists, writers and poets staff the stands. There is bean soup, bread with lard and cakes for the hungry. The festivities run until late night hours.

Location: Joniec
Date: August
Organizer: Municipality of Joniec
Contact: ph. 23 661 6041; 23 661 6017, email: joniec@ugjoniec.pl