Writing on social media, the top-flight club announced that collections would be made during Saturday’s 18-kilometer march; the following day, the club will also open the stadium to allow fans to donate items for the flood relief effort.
“This year we celebrate 80 years of freedom, brought to Breda by the Poles,” the post announced. “Unfortunately, the people of Poland are currently experiencing floods that have claimed lives and caused widespread damage.”
The post continued: “On Saturday 21 September we will walk 18-kilometers for the Maczek Liberation March. With this, we hope to raise money to donate to victims of the floods.”
This is not the first time that NAC Breda have demonstrated their solidarity with Poland. In 2019, the club’s stadium was temporarily renamed after Stanisław Maczek, the general that led Polish units into Breda. At other times, Breda’s supporters have conducted large-scale flag drops thanking Poland.
More recently, this summer saw the club reveal a new home and away strip honoring the Polish combatants that liberated Breda.
Background
Maczek’s unit was created in Scotland as part of the Polish I Corps. Considered Poland’s top tactician in the field of mechanized warfare, Maczek was handed command of the First Polish Armored Division.
Transferred to Normandy shortly after the 1944 D-Day landings, Maczek’s unit helped close the so-called Falaise Pocket, trapping several German divisions in the process.
Nicknamed ‘the black devils’ by the Germans on account of their courage and tenacity, Maczek’s troops liberated Saint-Omer, Ypres, Tielt and Ghent, among others.
However, their finest hour came with the liberation of Breda. Seizing the city in a matter of hours, the First Polish Armored Division accomplished this feat at the cost of no civilian casualties.
After the war, Maczek worked in Edinburgh as a barman before passing away in 1994 at the age of 102. According to his wishes, he was laid to rest alongside his soldiers in Breda’s Polish military cemetery.
