Battle of Bereza Kartuska (1919)

The Battle of Bereza Kartuska was one of the first clashes between the organised forces of the Second Polish Republic and Soviet Russia and is considered by some historians as the first engagement of the Polish-Soviet War.

After German and Polish representatives signed an evacuation agreement on 5 February 1919, ten battalions of Polish troops were to pass through German Oberkommando-Ostfront lines at Wolkowysk and occupy the Bolshevik front. Previously, on 12 January 1919, the Soviet Supreme Command ordered a "reconnaissance in depth", code name Target Vistula. On 13 February 1919, at 7 in the morning, 57 Polish soldiers and 5 officers, led by Capt. Mienicki of the Polish Wilno Detachment, made a sortie into the township of Biaroza (Polish: Bereza), a small city to the east of Brzesc capturing 80 soldiers of the Red Army.

Over one year later, on July 21–26, 1920, soldiers of Polish 14th Infantry Division under General Daniel Konarzewski once again clashed with the Red Army in Bereza Kartuska. Poles had retreated from Baranowicze, abandoning German Imperial Army fortifications, built there during World War One, and took defensive positions along the Jasiolda river. After three days of heavy fighting, 14th I.D. once again was forced to retreat towards Kobryn, after burning all bridges on the Jasiolda.