The fortress played a role in World War I . In October , 1914 a significant battle was fought in its vicinity , in which the Russian armies repelled a combined German and Austro-Hungarian offensive . After that battle the defences of the fortress were further improved , and it became even more important as an anchor of the Russian position on the Vistula . However , reverses elsewhere along the front forced the Russians to abandon Ivangorod in August 1915 . In 1920 , the Dęblin area was the starting point for a Polish offensive that decided the fate of the Battle of Warsaw and the entire Polish – Soviet War . In the years 1918 – 1939 , as part of independent Poland , Dęblin continued to have large military significance . The Dęblin fortress was garrisoned by the 15th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Army , and in the nearby village of Stawy one of the largest ammunition depots of the Polish Army ( '' Główna Składnica Uzbrojenia nr . 2 '' ) was located . In 1927 the famous Polish Air Force academy was officially moved to Dęblin , after its founding in Grudziądz in 1925 ( some pilot training has been conducted here since 1920 ) . It continues to function today . During the Invasion of Poland , Dęblin was captured by the Wehrmacht on September 15 , 1939 . Under the German occupation , its Jewish population perished during The Holocaust . Dęblin was a location of a German POW camp Stalag 307 during World War II , and a large number of Soviet POWs ( as well as those of other nations ) died in camps established nearby . The town was seized by the Red Army on 25 – 26 July 1944 . In the postwar years the city was rebuilt and expanded . It received its city charter in 1954
The Holocaust
The Holocaust
Dęblin