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Polish medal issued to martyr of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Object | Accession Number: 1994.109.1 a-c
1994.109.1_b closed Polish medal issued to martyr of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Click to enlarge 1994.109.1_b open Polish medal issued to martyr of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Click to enlarge
Date
1944 February 18  (issue)
Classification
Awards
Category
Medals
Object Type
Medals, Polish (lcsh)
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Rose Klepfisz
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About This Object

Physical Description
a= silver medal cross with Polish national insignia (white dove or eagle encircled by green leaves) enameled on a golden center; black lettering on horizontal cross bars: "VIR" and "TUTI", on vertical cross bars: "MILI" and "TARI", blue and black striped ribbon attached with metal loop to cross
b= presentation box for medal lined with velvet; c= original envelope in which the medal was received, addressed to:
"Mrs. R. K L E P F I S Z,
c/o Paul OLBERG,
L u x g a t e n 13. IV.
Lilla Essingen,
STOCKHOLM
S W E D E N . "
paper adhesive label, upper left, "R/LONDON, S.W.9/No 1603"; British paper postal stamp, upper right, "POSTAL/REVENUE/NINE/PENCE," with profile of male head and neck.
Dimensions
overall : 1.610 x 1.500 in. (4.089 x 3.81 cm.)
Materials
a : silver
b : plastic, cardboard, cloth, adhesive, metal, ink
c : paper, ink, adhesive, colored pencil
Markings
c= upper left, British ink postmark; left center, handwritten, (in pencil-?), "288"
Inscription
verso, possibly engraved, 2/18/44
Contributor
Subject: Michael Klepfisz
Biography
Michael Klepfisz (1913-1943) was a member of the Bund and of the Warsaw ghetto's Jewish Fighting Organization (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ZOB]. An engineer by training, his underground activity focused on acquiring and smuggling arms into the ghetto. He also organized the large scale production of hand grenades and Molotov cocktails for ghetto fighters. Klepfisz was killed in the first days of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, on April 20, 1943, trying to stop German machne gun fire so that his comrades could escape. On the first anniversary of the Ghetto Uprising he was awarded Poland's highest military honor, the Virtuti Militari medal, posthumously by the Polish government-in-exile in London, England.

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
The medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 by Rose Klepfisz, the wife of Michal Klepfisz.

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use
No restrictions on use
 
Record last modified: 2018-01-11 14:25:25
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn8552

Also in Michal Klepfisz collection

Michal Klepfisz collection

Document

Contains a 1944 letter sent from the Polish Government in Exile in London to Rose Klepfisz in Stockholm concerning the death of her husband, Michal Klepfisz, death in the Warsaw. Also includes an affidavit sent from the ŻOB (Jewish Fighting Organization) attesting to Michal Klepfisz's activities with the ŻOB, and the text of a decoded telegram reading "Michal Klepfisz of Bund, who was hidden on the Aryan side and working to produce explosives for the Warsaw Ghetto, was a representative of ZOB for the Polish Underground. The day before the Ghetto Uprising, he entered the Ghetto and joined the resistance crew on StoJerskiej street. In the second day of fighting he distinguished himself as a brave warrior and was killed." The telegram includes a handwritten note at bottom reading "Silver Cross of Military Medal Virtutui Militari, 5th Class, Dr. Person, Feb. 44."

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