The Last Place for a Last Army
The frigid wind whipped through the Świętokrzyskie Mountains as Major Henryk Dobrzański, better known by the pseudonym "Hubal," peered through his binoculars. It was March 30, 1940, and the forest around him bristled with danger. His small band of 70 Polish resistance fighters - the last uniformed soldiers of the defeated Polish Army - had evaded Nazi occupiers for months. But now, the net was closing.

Hubal's heart raced as he realized the terrible truth - they were surrounded. Three SS regiments and three Wehrmacht battalions, perhaps as many as 8,000 men, had been deployed with one mission: destroy the "Mad Major" and his unit.

As the first rays of dawn pierced the canopy, machine gun fire erupted, shattering the silence. Hubal barked orders to his men, who scrambled for cover. The air filled with the acrid smell of cordite and the screams of the wounded. The Germans pressed their attack, confident in their overwhelming numbers.

Hubal knew the stakes. If his unit fell, so too would the hope of thousands of Poles who saw them as the last bastion of resistance against Nazi tyranny. As bullets whizzed past his head, the Major made a split-second decision. It was risky, perhaps suicidal, but it was their only chance.

With a fierce determination etched on his face, Hubal gripped his pistol and signaled to his men. In an instant, he sprang into action, charging headlong towards the German lines. His loyal fighters, inspired by their commander's audacity, surged forward behind him. The enemy fire intensified to a deafening roar, but Hubal pressed on relentlessly. As he raced towards the hail of bullets, the fate of Poland's resistance hung in the balance, teetering on the edge of this daring, desperate gambit…