Training area north
Coordinates: 53 ° 15 ′ 25 ″ N , 20 ° 42 ′ 10 ″ E
The northern military training area (also called Mielau military training area ) was built in early 1940 in the area of the Polish districts of Mielau , Praschnitz and Zichenau . Its establishment is in connection with the construction of a total of three large training areas for the German Wehrmacht in occupied Poland. These training areas are the northern military training area near Mielau , the central military training area near Radom and the southern military training area near Mielec . The southern border of the northern military training area ran along the Mielau - Praschnitz road . In the north the area was determined by the former East Prussian border . The practice area ran along both banks of the Orschütz river . The exercise area covered an area of more than 300 square kilometers and was the largest military training area for the German Wehrmacht. The practice area was used in particular to practice large-scale combat between combined weapons and strong armored units. Thousands of Poles had to evacuate their homes to set up the practice area . The extent to which forced laborers were used in the construction of the square has not yet been conclusively clarified.
The area of the training area north comprised the area of the following administrative districts:
- Chorus cele (partially)
- Chojnovo
- Duczymin
- Dzierzgowo
- Janowo
- Krzynowloga Mala (partially)
- Krzynowloga Wielka (partially)
- Szydlowo (partially)
- Grudusk (partially).
On July 1, 1943, the merger of these districts and all of their communities within the military training area north of carried Heeresgutsbezirk Mielau.
A prisoner of war camp was located in the area of the village of Nosarzewa . The inmates had to do forced labor to set up a nearby shooting range. In the forest between the villages of Nosarzewa and Garlin there were large repair facilities for the Tiger VI and Panther V armored vehicles . Remnants of it can still be seen today, as well as the dense network of well-preserved concrete roads.
The military training area near Mielau was the place of assembly of many alien units of the German armed forces, including the Russian 1st Cossack Division under its commander General Helmuth von Pannwitz .
The following units were stationed in the barracks of the Mielau military training area:
Front troop units
- Infantry Division Mielau ( Shadow Division )
- Panzer Brigade 105
- Panzer Brigade 106
- Panzer Brigade 107
- Panzer Grenadier Battalion 2105
- Panzer Grenadier Battalion 2106
- Panzer Grenadier Battalion 2107
- Panzer Battalion (Panther) 2106
- Panzer Battalion (Panther) 2107
- Air Force Field Division 8
Replacement troops
- 11th Infantry Replacement Regiment
- Reserve Grenadier Battalion 3rd
- Cossack teaching u. Training Regiment 1
- Reserve Artillery Division 1
Command authorities / agencies
- OK (I) 929
- Local headquarters in Mielau
- Construction staff radio Mielau
- Headquarters of the Mielau military training area
- Front control center 24 (2a)
Other facilities
- Mielau work and education camp of the SS
literature
- Władysław Góra, Wojna i okupacja na ziemiach polskich 1939–1945, Wydawnictwo Książka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1984, ISBN 83-05-11290-X
- Cossacks: Racially Wearable . In: Der Spiegel . No. 24 , 1963, pp. 34-37 ( Online - June 12, 1963 ).