Tuhia he haere tonu mō tēnei wāhanga - I tino harikoa a Wiktorin ki te whakaurunga o Ahitereiria. Whai muri i te whakaurunga, i whakahokia mai ia ki te mahi, ka whakatairangahia ki te rangatira rangatira o te ope taua. I te Hōngongoi 1938, i riro ia hei rangatira mo te 20th Infantry Division. I whakahaua e Wiktorin te 20 i te whakaekenga o Poland me te haere ki te whakaaturanga hoia a Tiamana-Soviet i Brest-Litovsk
ki a Heinz Guderian. I te marama o Mei 1940, i uru te 20th Infantry Division ki te whakaekenga o France.