In June 1941 Soviet 86th Rifle Division was responsible for covering the portion of the new Soviet-German border where this solemn remnants of a pillbox are located. Although elaborate trenches and dozens of simple bunkers were constructed in this area, they proved useless when the German juggernaut started to roll Red Army defences from the north.

Nearby small town of Ciechanowiec was abandoned in panic just hours after the first shot sounded. Fleeing local NKVD troop left behind piles of documents - an unusual thing for the meticulous henchmen - and the town was taken by just 30 German cyclists who strolled lazily into the area. It seems nobody fired at them when they passed this pillbox when pedalling along Zuzela-Nur-Ciechanowiec road. Soviets, at least for now, were gone.

86th Rifle Division, hard-pressed from the north-western direction reatreated hastily to the east - not the easiest of maneuvers under such pressure. The whole unit, almost to the last man, was anihilated just three days later near Mosty (today in Belarus) - 200km from the place where they were supposed to stand their ground.

For the local Polish people the grim days of Soviet occupation were replaced by yet another period of hardship and struggle. For them, green-clad Soviet invaders were replaced by another ones, wearing field-gray uniforms.
That summer nothing had changed for them.

One of the very few places where remnants of the Soviet field defences can still be found is pictured on the photo. Today it's just a small mound overgrown by trees. The pillbox was a simple thing: build of stone and concrete and covered with wodden logs. It had a wide opening at the back, a small antitank gun could be rolled inside quickly. In 1941 there was no forest nearby and the crew, if there was any, would enjoy a perfect field of fire in the direction of Bug river from where the Germans came.

This photo is Best on black at Fluidr

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Make:	SAMSUNG DIGITAL IMA
Model:	SAMSUNG GX20
Exposure:	0.022 sec (1/45)
Aperture:	f/11.0
ISO Speed:	100
Focal Length:	40 mm
Lens:	SIGMA