It was the first event inaugurating the series ‘Shadows of War. Meetings on Losses and Memory,’ organised by the Institute of War Losses.

The meeting was chaired by Prof. Maciej Franz, PhD, a historian of 19th and 20th century military history, professionally associated with the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the Naval Academy in Gdynia. His research focuses on the military of the modern era, with particular emphasis on military historiography, the history of the Zaporizhian Cossacks, and the naval wars of those centuries. In his research, Prof. Franz also addresses the issue of the defensive war of 1939, which has resulted in, among other things, a collection of articles entitled ‘The Polish Campaign of 1939 and Beyond... Studies and Sketches’.

During a lecture organised by the Jan Karski Institute of War Losses and the Library in the Śródmieście District of the Capital City of Warsaw, Professor Maciej Franz presented the route taken by the Kobryń Division, the last unit of the Polish Army formed during the September campaign, which became the core of the Independent Operational Group ‘Polesie’ commanded by General Franciszek Kleeberg. It was the subordinates of the aforementioned commander who were forced to face not only the Germans (e.g. in the Battle of Kock), but also the Red Army, which, according to the secret protocol to the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of 17 September 1939, began armed aggression against Poland.