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Warsaw Uprising Eagles

Article about: On Friday, we had the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising, the 63-day doomed insurgency against Nazi Germany. During the rising one of the most important symbols and military insignia was

  1. #1

    Default Warsaw Uprising Eagles

    On Friday, we had the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising, the 63-day doomed insurgency against Nazi Germany.

    During the rising one of the most important symbols and military insignia was the Polish Eagle, based on the White Eagle of the Polish coat of arms.
    They were used on elements of military uniforms such as hats and armbands, as well as on banners, flags, badges and emblems.
    Some of them were allready shown on this forum, but as I am collecting POW items, I would like to present a few very scarce items out of my collection.

    I would like to start with the AK-Lamsdorf Eagle:
    On October 6th, 1944, the first train with the POWs from the Uprising left Warsaw and after two days reached the Stalag 318/VIIIF Lamsdorf (Lambinowice) located in the region of Silesia Opole - the oldest and the biggest POW camp in the III Reich.
    On October 6th and 7th, there were 5789 POWs who arrived at the camp - between them officers and privates and a group of 600 underage soldiers.
    That Eagle/badge which we are talking about was first established in Lamsdorf and especially devoted to the youngest POWs - 10-17-year-old participants in the Warsaw Uprising.

    Some documents, photos and the original design of that AK Eagle are to be found at the Central Museum of Prisoners-of-War in Łambinowice-Opole:

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

  2. #2

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    Because of the lack of materials the AK-Lamsdorf Eagle was made by POWs out of Red Cross tin cans.

    The Eagle which I own, is probably the only one that survived untill today...
    It was found in Lamsdorf after the 1997 Millennium Flood (Powódź tysiąclecia) of the Oder River
    (taking the lives of 105-115 people (in the Czech Republic and Poland) and causing material damages estimated at $4.5 billion).

    1997 Central European flood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    The flood caused a lot of damages, but also recovered several interesting places and artifacts which had been under the ground for many Years.
    One of those was "my" AK-Eagle:

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles
    Last edited by kindzjal; 08-03-2014 at 06:52 PM.

  3. #3

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    The Eagle was in a bad shape:

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

  4. #4

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    But after a long time of restoration and conservation it looks like this:

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

  5. #5

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    The other items (which belonged to Polish POWs) found at the spot:

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

    And here another (Lamsdorf) Eagle which belonged to a POW from the 1st Army of gen. Berling (Wojsko Polskie):

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

  6. #6

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    Here my third Eagle.
    This one was made out of a bone (!) by one of the Warsaw Uprising POWs who was sent to the Stalag XB in Sandbostel:

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

  7. #7

    Default

    Very nice rarities...thank you for posting!

    Fascinating to see that the Lamsdorf AK Eagle illustrated also displays the specific form of stylised Syrenka (Mermaid) of Warsaw inside the red shield as the 2PolCorps.

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

    Tony posted in a previous thread that the insignia - 2PolCorps Syrenka shield patch - was initially approved by the Command of the Polish Army in the East (Armia Polska na Wschodzie) for use by APW units on Dec. 31, 1942. Subsequently re-approved for the Polish 2nd Corps on March 6, 1944.
    I collect, therefore I am.

    Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.

  8. #8

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    Thanks for showing this example of the "Syrenka" - the sign of the brave city: Warsaw.

    And here my fourth and last AK Eagle from Lamsdorf:

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

  9. #9

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    Take also a good look at the original Lamsdorf brick (fundament), those bricks are very rare and weren't usualy
    used for the building of the barracks in the Stalag...

    The dog tag which You can see is a very nice example of the tags issued to Polish POWs in Lamsdorf.
    This one probably belonged to one of the Warsaw Uprising officers which were later transferred to Oflag VIIA Murnau.
    The same Oflag where Pilecki was transfered from Lamsdorf!

    Warsaw Uprising Eagles

  10. #10

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    Interesting.

    But why were any bricks used at Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf imprinted with "LAMSDORF"? Was there a German brick works in the locale? Did other camps have such specially imprinted bricks?


    I did find a reference to Stalag VIIIB 344 working parties and brickyards:

    Lamsdorf: Stalag VIIIB 344 Prisoner of War Camp Working Parties/Arbeits Kommandos related to brickyards:
    E585 Jagerndorf, brickyard
    E406 Seifersdorf, Brickyard
    (E=English PoWs)
    I collect, therefore I am.

    Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.

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