Inspectorate in Lwów. Agency of the Customs Inspectorate of the Free City of Gdańsk. In late 1938 and early 1939, following changes of borders of some Eastern European countries, the Border Guard took over protection of the boundary with Lithuania, while Border Defence Corps moved some of its units to the newly established border with Hungary. Furthermore, every station of the Border Guard was strengthened with a platoon of the Polish Land Forces. Members of Straż Graniczna, under General Walerian Czuma, participated in the Second World War, fighting during the invasion of Poland together with Land Forces units. 1945–1989 During the period of the Polish People's Republic, the role of the border guards was carried out by the military formation of Border Protection Troops (), being a part of the Polish People's Army and reporting directly to the Ministry of Interior, formerly under the Ministry of National Defense (from 1945 to 1949 and again from 1965 to 1970 and 1972), just as its 2nd Republic predecessors were assigned. After the martial law, border battalions were reconstructed. Battalions were re-established in Sanok, Nowy Targ, Cieszyn, Racibórz, Prudnik, Zgorzelec, Gubin, Słubice and Chojna. The organization of battalions in Nowy Sącz, Lubań Śląski and Szczecin was stopped at the stage of the backbone commands. These were later disbanded. 1990 – present Straż Graniczna has been reestablished in the Third Polish Republic as a civil, police-type service, with the act of 12 October 1990 and began operations on 16 May 1991. It considers itself the successor to the Second Polish Republic formations of the Straż Graniczna and Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza (plus the military heritage of the Wojska Ochrony Pogranicza of the People's Republic), and thus is one of the only police styled forces to use military style ranks (the Government Protection Bureau, Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego and the Służba Więzienna also use them as well). From 1 May 2004, the day Poland became a member of the European Union, Straż Graniczna performs its responsibility to guard and protect both the Polish and EU borders. Structure Border Guard General Headquarters (Warsaw) Warmińsko-Mazurski Border Guard Regional Unit (Kętrzyn) Podlaski Border Guard Regional Unit (Białystok) Bug Border Guard Regional Unit (Chełm) Bieszczady Border Guard Regional Unit (Przemyśl) Śląski Border Guard Regional Unit (Racibórz) Odra Border Guard Regional Unit (Krosno Odrzańskie) Sea Border Guard Regional Unit (Gdańsk) Vistula Border Guard Regional Unit (Warsaw) Carpathian Border Guard Regional Unit (Nowy