Original Documents – Military Communiqués, Letters, etc.

[LwowAK]

Hello All,

Thought I would start a thread on documents pertaining to the foundations of the Polish Army. I'll kick it off with two new additions to my own collection:

1) Notice from 13 March 1919 for males born in 1896 through 1901 to register for the draft at the town hall in Zagorze. This would be the first step in eventually fighting in the Polish-Bolshevik War.

2) Orders of the Day for the Polish Command in Moravia for 3 November 1918. The orders are signed by Lt. Col. Kazimierz Dzierżanowski, who was assigned commander on the previous day (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Dzierżanowski). He would later become Inspector General for Artillery, and eventually die in an NKVD prison in 1940.

I've been getting into documents lately, so I hope you'll all be able to contribute!

Cheers,

Brandon

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi Brandon,

Very interesting and historically significant documents! Thanks for sharing them.

. . . I've been getting into documents lately, so I hope you'll all be able to contribute!

This is an excellent area of collecting that remains largely overlooked. I am intrigued by the relative quantity of similarly interesting documents that pop up on the market in Poland. This may be a good topic to devote a dedicated thread to. Perhaps we could rename this thread “Original Documents – Military Communiqués / Letters” ? Just thought I’d politely ask before hijacking your thread!

Thanks again Brandon,

Tony

[LwowAK]

Go for it Tony, as long as I get 51% of the profits from the thread.

Cheers,

B

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Please allow me to first consut with my legal and accounting staff . . .

Cheers,
T.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Here’s one picked up several years ago, and one of my favorites. This is a “rozkaz” (order) issued by CO of the Modlin Army group General Emil Przedrzymirski-Krukowicz on September 4th, 1939 at 20:15 hours. It issues orders to a unit for combat readiness and immediate relocation to the Modlin Fortress. On this day the Modlin Army was in withdrawal following the Battle of Mława that had started with the initial attack of the German 1st Army Corps at noon on September 1st. General Przedrzymirski-Krukowicz was concerned of his forces being outflanked and surrounded and ordered the withdrawal towards Modlin.

The order provides instructions who to report to and also warns of the possibility of aerial attack while en route. At this stage the Poles were suffering heavy losses in both troops and equipment due to constant strafing and bombardment by the Luftwaffe. The documents bears the red “MOB” mobilization stamp, dated and signed by the general.

An exciting discovery was made after purchasing the book “General Anders” (J. Englert, K. Barbarski; The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum 1989). Contained in the back pages of the book is a copy of a “Situation Report September 4th” issued just three hours earlier by this same general. The two documents provide interesting insight into the situation as it was unfolding in the early days of the German attack.

General Emil Przedrzymirski-Krukowicz (1886-1957) was eventually captured by the Germans and remained a POW for the entire war. After being freed by the Allies in April 1945 he settled in Canada in 1949 where he remained for the rest of his life.

Regards,
Tony

[LwowAK]

Hello All,

I picked up this document a couple of years ago. It is a 6-week medical release from the Officer Cadet School in Marmaros-Sziget to Vienna starting in March 1915. I've been trying to find who the commandant of the school who signed it was, but have come up empty so far.

More than that, I would be very interested to find who the "Polish Legions, Representative Officer" who annotated and signed at the bottom was. The fact it was written in German leads me to believe it was an Austrian officer, but I can't be sure of that. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

B

[Krakow1]

Here is one of the first military posters/orders published in the new Poland.. It is a mobilisation order. Says that highest ranking officers of Polish ancestry are to take command of their units and those who will not obey will face a court martial. It says that General Roja assumes command of all military forces in Krakow, western Galicia up to Przemysl. it is dated 31 October 1918, the beginning.
Also it says that Polish soldiers are to take off austrian insignia of their hats and replace it with eagles and on the left side of hats and uniforms to wear a bow with national colors. Rare poster. It stayed folded for more than 90 years.

[Krakow1]

This is a wall poster from 21 February 1846, the City of Krakow Uprising. The Uprising in Free City of Krakow lasted from 21 February until 4 March 1846. It was against all three occupiers: Austria, Prussia and Russia. The poster is signed by austrian general Ludwig Collin who was not in the city when this poster was published (he escaped with some troops). The poster puts down rules: no more than three people together on the street or they will be shot at, that anyone caught with a weapon will be shot and that all the homes have to stay shut/closed and people can only leave to get necessities, and that all of the homes downtown have to have one candle lit in the window after dark.

[Krakow1]

Another wall poster dated 3 March 1846 by "Temporary Comitee for Public Safety" in the city of Krakow. They are asking that no one would shoot on the streets or they will face consequences, that no one other than security guards is allowed to carry weapons, and that all of the weapons and military things were turned in at the main Police building.
It has names on the bottom of the members of the Comitee.
Old and rare poster.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Itakdalej, those are some incredibly rare posters. Many thanks for posting them. A treat for the eyes

Regards,
Tony