At the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939 the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany divided Poland in a twin invasion agreed in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
On 20 September 1941 Major Szostak, Commander of the Polish Armoured Forces in the Soviet Union submitted a wide ranging training plan for the Polish Units by proposing to create a training centre of tank and transport troops to be attached to the Soviet Tank Training School in Saratov.