Auction items .. Good, Bad or Indifferent ?

[Gary J]

Stefan,
I'm the seller of the medals and the rifle brigade badge.

The rifle brigade badge ... if you look closely, has exactly the same pin\rivet attach marks as the one Kosa had shown.
Both badges have been workshop assembled, .. not by the same hand, hence the variation in the soldering.
Both badges are of exactly the same construction and parts.
The example you have shown, has been very poorly assembled.
The assembler, has in the first instance, miss drilled a through hole in the top wing, which he has filled with solder to cover his mistake.
The rivet "holes" were in fact blind (not all the way through), and were supposed to be only a seat for the solder to bite in.
Clearly, some were soldered cleanly, and held, whereas some had the blind hole drilled through and a small rivet was used to fasten the two pieces together. (Again, down to the soldering skill of the assembler).
There is the variant, using a stamped sheet eagle, rather than a stamped plate eagle, which is purley soldered, and not rivetted.(See attched image from book).

I've owned this badge for 15 years, and to my knowledge, the "newbie" copies have only appeared in the last 5 years.
Also, so far, the "newbie" copies have only appeared as a one piece item, not two piece stamped and soldered.

The badge is 100%.

The medal group.
The chap returned to Poland in 1947, and it seems that he must have got on with some of the communist elements, as he was also awarded the Polonia Restitui.
(See attached paperwork).

Gary J.

[kosa]

(...)Or was it also awarded to those who served in the Polish Army of the West if they returned to Poland after WWII?(...)

Hi Stefan,

Yes, some of those who returned to Poland after the war got the Grunwald Berlin badge. Kazimierza Madeja writes about it in "Polskie symbole wojskowe 1943 – 1978".

Best,
Kosa

[StefanM]

Hi Stefan,


Yes, some of those who returned to Poland after the war got the Grunwald Berlin badge. Kazimierza Madeja writes about it in "Polskie symbole wojskowe 1943 – 1978".

Thanks Kosa, I don't have this book.

But why was it awarded to any of the former Polish Forces in the West if they were being arrested by the Polish communists as "western spies" or at least under suspicion of being "agents" of Gen. Anders when they returned home? Or did the communist suspicion, arrests, torture and deportations apply to very few of the returnee Polish servicemen from the west?

[StefanM]

Stefan,
I'm the seller of the medals and the rifle brigade badge.

The rifle brigade badge ... if you look closely, has exactly the same pin\rivet attach marks as the one Kosa had shown.
Both badges have been workshop assembled, .. not by the same hand, hence the variation in the soldering.
Both badges are of exactly the same construction and parts.
I've owned this badge for 15 years, and to my knowledge, the "newbie" copies have only appeared in the last 5 years.
The badge is 100%.

The medal group.
The chap returned to Poland in 1947, and it seems that he must have got on with some of the communist elements, as he was also awarded the Polonia Restitui.
(See attached paperwork).

Gary J.

Thanks Gary, but I had no questions over the brigade badge???

The Grunwald award to a former 2PolCorps serviceman seemed to me contrary to general narrative that these men were seen as "agents" of Anders so therefore treated with extreme discrimination by the Polish communist regime upon returning to Poland? Interesting to learn that it was awarded to former 2PolCorps soldiers, I wonder how many were therefore issued?

[kosa]

Stefan, the badge was awarded only to those who joined the Army and the Polish Workers' Party. Others were subject to all forms of communist oppression.

[Gary J]

Stefan,
It is a really strange grouping ... ALL the paperwork and dates tally 100%.

The only thing that might have helped his "return", was that he was in the medics, and I wonder if his "skill" saved him when he returned to Poland ??
Or simply .... he "knew the right people".

Cheers

Gary

Opps.... sorry about brigade badge reply ....... I just rolled both answers together.

[kosa]

Gary, thanks for clarifying on the brigade badge

[StefanM]

Stefan, the badge was awarded only to those who joined the Army and the Polish Workers' Party. Others were subject to all forms of communist oppression.

So I wonder how the former 2PolCorps servicemen convinced the communist regime that they weren't going spy for the West once they joined the LWP since the regime was apparently predisposed to treating them all as returning spies in the first place? Interesting.

[StefanM]

Stefan,
It is a really strange grouping ... ALL the paperwork and dates tally 100%.

I agree Gary, it is strange, and no doubts from me about the paperwork all being 100%. I find it fascinating a 1948 dated Grunwald document and badge being awarded to a former 2PolCorps soldier and is not something I have come across before.

[kosa]

Stefan, maybe he did not have to convince the commies. Maybe he was a pre-war leftist, or like Gary says he knew the right people.