Poland uses Iron Cross

[Dennis Redler]

I posted this here because I thought that 3rd Reich collectors might find it interesting.They are made from the German Iron Cross 2nd class.
These are Polish medals given to individuals who managed to kill a SS man. In particular a member of the Gestapo. The medal on the left for a Gestapo officer, the right an enlisted man.
Attached to the center is a prewar Polish coin with a superimposed PW( Polska Walczaca- Fighting Poland ) with the date 1944 added below.
If you look closely at the medal on the right you will notice that it is made from a World War 1 Iron Cross.
The photo comes from the Dec.2002 edition of "Militaria International Magazine" The article is titled "Polands Military Decorations" subtitled "The Rare Warsaw Uprising Medals" by Col. Zdzislaw P. Wesolowski.
Dennis Redler

[George Stimson]

Very interesting!

George

[Musashi]

You amaze me. I am pure Pole and I heard about it the first time.



Best regards

[Somosierra]

I wonder what he has written...

It looks like something done very quickly, just to honor a man after the fight – maybe during the Warsaw Uprising...

Every Pole wanted to have his own VM, not such curiosum...

[Korbius]

Wow, they surely are exotic What would their value be today?

[Macmedal]

Cheers Dennis

Interesting items, never heard of this before. !!

Nick M

[qdave]

so they are real iron crosses with monet mounted on.heheeh...good idea polish created.
i guess it is rare items realy

good find!

[Dennis Redler]

Thank you everyone.
Yes, the article says that these medals were made during the uprising. And obviously extremely rare.
Also in the article, Colonel Wesolowski lists a few websites for anyone thats interested in his work.
Dennis Redler
http://www.wwdir.com/polishbk.html
http://www.tmcx.com/polish1.html

[Somosierra]

http://whatfor.prv.pl/
--

[Dennis Redler]

Great link, Somosierra, thank you.
Dennis

[Troy Tempest]

Hi Dennis

11 years on from this threads creation, and I've still never heard anything more about these. Where on earth would they find the EK2s in the first place, since the soldiers would only have been wearing the ribbon? Were there any Gestapo men actually on the ground during the Uprising? I'm interested if anyone has any references that can support this claim about super-rare Polish Iron Crosses. If they were real, would they not be worth a fortune? Thanks for any help you can give me here Dennis!

[kstdk]

Hello

None of the former posters have logged into Axis in the last 2 - 3 years, so maybe no one of them se this?

Regards
Kurt
kstdk

[jednastka]

The EK2 were available. In WWI, many Poles from then eastern Germany fought on the Western Front and were awarded EK2, my grandfather included. I know that he had kept his in the inter-war period, but since he left for France in 1939, I don't know what eventually happened to it.