Here’s an important piece of Polish militaria that has been listed for auction with Hermann Historica. Made of silver by the Gontarczyk firm, this finial eagle for the regimental standard of the 1st Podhale Rifles was presented to the regiment by Polish president Ignacy Moscicki on October 21, 1928. The regiment was engaged in heavy fighting in the first weeks of September with remnants eventually making their way to Lwow in south east Poland. Here the eagle was said to be hidden near the border with the Ukraine. It’s rumoured that eagle may have been found and taken to Germany as a souvenir, which is where the first news of its existence surfaced two years ago. Somewhere along the way the eagle’s crown, which may have been made of gold, was unscrewed and lost. There’s some talk in the collecting community that this item may be on the list of WW2 looted national property, so it’ll be interesting to see if the auction listing remains.

Lot 3528 | International military history | Online Catalogue | A79m | Current auctions | Buy | Hermann Historica .

Regards,
Tony