Two battles of the Second "Iron" Brigade of the Polish Legions took place at Rarańcza.
. The first of these took place on 17 June 1915, during the Russian offensive into Bessarabia, when the Legion regiments were covering the retreat of the Austrian army. Thanks to the bravery of their commanders - Col. Zieliński and Lt. Col. Januszajtis - the legionaries managed to repel the Russian attack.
The second Battle of Rarańcza took place on the night of 14/15 February 1918. It occurred upon hearing that the Central Powers had concluded the Peace of Brest - officers and soldiers of the Second Brigade of the Legions decided to break through with weapons in hand to General Dowbor-Muśnicki's corps. A battle with the Austrians ensued. Part of the brigade was taken prisoner by the Austrians, while the rest broke through to Ukraine under General Jozef Haller.
Legionaries killed in both battles were buried in the cemetery in 4 mass graves.
Legionaries killed at Rokitna on 13.06.1915 were also buried here, their funeral took place on 15.06.1915. In February 1923, their remains were moved from Rarańcza to Kraków, to the Rakowicki Cemetery and buried in a common grave.
'In 1927, the bodies of those killed at Rarańcza were exhumed and buried in the Cemetery of Eaglets in Lviv, but there is no certainty that a full exhumation was carried out. In 1932, Poles from Bukovina and Gdansk erected a monument near the entrance to the cemetery; the inscription on it reads: "To the Polish Legionaries / fallen / for the independence of the Fatherland / faithful comrades-in-arms / grateful compatriots from Bukovina and Gdansk / 12 June 1932". The monument is a few dozen metres away from the legionaries' graves. In 1934, on the initiative of the Polish House in Chernivtsi, 4 stone crosses with inscriptions were placed on the graves: "Whoever you are, learn from me how to die sweetly and nobly for the Fatherland // To the Polish Legionaries fallen in 1914-1918 / 1 July 1934". On one of the crosses the inscription is more elaborate and includes the phrase "... from Polish citizens in Romania".
In 2015, at the foot of the monument, an association associated with the Central Rifle Archive placed a plaque with the inscription: "To the memory of the uhlans / of the 2nd squadron of the 2nd Brigade / of the Polish Legions / of the rittmeister / Zbigniew Dunin-Wąsowicz / fallen in the battle / with the Russian army / near Rokitna / on 13 June 1915. // Przechodniu, powiedz Polsce... // Central Rifle Archive / 17.06.2015".

Teresa Zachara (MKiDN)