Warsaw uprising cross

[AUSGANG]

Okay. So about two years ago I got taken in by an ebay ad for what was promoted as a genuine WW2 German Iron Cross that had been removed from a German soldier killed by Polish partisans, The cross than had a Polish coin added to it. This was supposedly a Polish partisan award for one German soldier killed. I bought it after many questions that got answers which later turned out to be lies. It turned out to be a solid, one piece cast piece of crap. Well, I only lost 25 dollars so I took it on the chin and watched as the cruddy things went up on ebay every week. Now this one appears.... It is apparently a genuine cross that has had part of the frame cut away to accommodate the coin. Is there any photo of these as genuine legit awards or all of them fantasy fakes???

Here is the latest one:

[AUSGANG]

rev

[AUSGANG]

My "fake"

[Alex K]

I say this one is fake.
Regards, Alex

[AUSGANG]

Does this award exist as a genuine partisan item?

[Snni]

Maker 20 did not make EK2's, so that not a good sign..

[Flemming]

I would say that this is a fantasy piece.

/Flemming

[AUSGANG]

Looking very much like a complete fabrication. I cannot find any back up reference to these items. There is a Polish Warsaw Uprising medal but it looks nothing like this. What a joke...

[AUSGANG]

Maker 20 did not make EK2's, so that not a good sign..

The stamp is wrong anyway...

[Ludwig]

IMO just a piece of fantasy.

[EK-collector]

seam really cheap. Fake for sure

[gosu]

I'm sure it's a fantasy piece, I've never seen original one. Maybe one partisant made something like this, but it's not regural award.

Regards Patrick

[AUSGANG]

What I resent is seeing these items listed on Ebay and selling up to 50 bucks a pop, sometimes more, when I know that they're fake. Oh well, no one clued me in either... Thank to all for the comments...

[ben bijker]

No partisan or whatever would wear ANYTHING from the enemy, not even with some Polish coin glued to the front.
The fantasy of fakers is beyond every imagination, and because of that there are always new victims to be found.......

in other words: everybody has to do his homework, no matter how long you collect!!

[Tiger 1]

Gentlemen,

Homework certainly should be done if we are to learn from history as it was and not how we may wish it to be. ;-)

These crosses shown are fairly current reproductions of the 'Warsaw Uprising Cross for Killing the SS'

This cross was instituted during the 63 days of the Warsaw Uprising for award to those Poles who manged to kill an SS officer or man. These fighters were members of the Home Army.

The extremely rare original examples came in two distinct grades (?) that were distinguished by the ribbon used to suspend this make do decoration. For killing an SS officer the cross was suspended from a ribbon originally used on the Polish Order of the Virtuti Militari. The ribbon to denote the killing of an SS man was from the Polish Cross of Valor.

Obviously original examples are exceeding rare given that not a great many SS personel were killed in the destruction of Warsaw. Combine that fact with the utter destruction of Warsaw and the liquidation of any Polish fighters caught logically makes original examples of these crosses of a rarity on the level of a national treasure.

These crosses were made from German EKIIs with a prewar Polish crowned eagle coin soldered to the front. On the coin was also applied the PW symbol signifying POLSKA WALCZACA , 'Poland is fighting'. This symbol was hand cut from thin sheet brass and soldered to the coin. The date 1944 was either stamped or painted at the base of the coin under the Polish eagle's talons.

These decorations were makeshift due to the extreme conditions they were earned, manufactured and awarded.

Examples of these crosses were shown in the Polish Armed Forces Museum exibit during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Warsaw Uprising.

Dr. Leslaw Welker's book 'Symbolika Znakow Polski Walczacej' (Decorations of the Polish Home Army) published in 2000 also shows an example.

Hope this dispells some of the mystery of surounding these rare symbols of human courage and sacrifice.

All the best,

Tony

P.S. This is a perfect example of the old collectors axiom of eliminating the absolutes of 'never' and 'always' from our vacabulary as collectors in search of the truth.