In mid-August 1943, a Polish unit of the Striking Cadre Battalions (UBK), which was controlled by the resistance organization Confederation of the Nation, launched an armed attack on East Prussian villages in the area of Johannisburg (now: Pisz).
The attack, ordered by Colonel Stanislaw Karolkiewicz, was launched in revenge for atrocities which the Germans committed against the Polish population of the Bialystok District.
In July 1943 Colonel Stanisław Karolkiewicz (nom de guerre Szczęsny) organized a unit of the Striking Cadre Battalions, which was part of the right-wing Confederation of the Nation.
Its members chose their noms de guerre from characters of Pan Tadeusz, an epic poem by Adam Mickiewicz.
Since the Striking Cadre Battalions' headquarters permitted retaliatory attacks, the Poles decided to make a raid on East Prussia, in the area of Johannisburg.
Colonel Stanislaw Karolkiewicz and his unit of 28 well-armed men, avoiding German troops, started off from the Wysokie Mazowieckie County.
[10] Other targets included houses of devoted Nazis, members of the Nazi party and inhabitants that engaged in brutality against Polish population[1] The objectives of the attack were: Karolkiewicz and his men, supported by a patrol of the National Armed Forces under Antoni Zdunczyk “Olowek” (seven soldiers) crossed the border on August 14, 1943, at 22:00 hours.
The date of the attack - August 15, was chosen deliberately, as this is the official day of the Polish Army, to commemorate the Miracle at the Vistula.
[4] The Poles deliberately spared the house of Hildegard Cramer von Laue, a widow, whose husband, a Wehrmacht officer, died on the Eastern Front.
The Poles escaped to the nearby Pisz forest, together with their booty - a submachine gun, 30 carbines, 14 pistols, a large quantity of ammunition as well as uniforms and boots.
Its echoes reached Berlin and Heinrich Himmler himself was vividly interested in the investigation, which was carried out by the police authorities from Allenstein[need quotation to verify].