World War II-related badge pins
In the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union, in the Collection of Badge Pins Worn on Clothing (No. 191) and the Stanisław Bieniek Collection (No. 200), there are numerous badge pins related to World War II.
Some of the badges commemorate the Katyń Massacre. The first, rectangular badge with a black rim contains the inscription Katyń 1940 and two Crossess, separated by three rows of barbed wire:
The badge below shows the images of the Mother of God, a Polish Armed Forces Eagle, and a few Crosses. The inscription says: Our Lady of Katyń, Katyń 1940:
The third badge pin presents a large inscription Katyń, with the letter T replaced by a white and red Cross with a crowned Eagle in the center. On the background there are ca. 50 names of the victims:
The next, similar badge also contains the lettering Katyń with a Cross in the center, as well as the names of prisoner of war camps: Kozielsk, Ostaszków, Starobielsk, and date: 1940:
Other badge pins refer to the Warsaw Uprising. In 1982 on the occassion of the 63 days of the Warsaw Uprising exhibition a badge pin with the Kotwica symbol (in English: the Anchor, the World War II emblem of the Polish Underground State and the Home Army) was issued:
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in 1984 another badge with the same symbol was issued. The Kotwica (also known as the Fighting Poland) was depicted in black against the background of the Cross and the national colors. The dates 1944 and 1984, and the inscriptions AK (Polish abbreviation for the Home Army) and Burza (Operation Tempest) were added.
Another badge pin shows the picture of Our Lady of the Home Army. In the white and red center there is an image of the Mother of God, together wit the crowned Eagle, and the Kotwica emblem. Above the images there is an inscription Our Lady of the Home Army, and at the bottom a quote from Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński „Elegia o… [chłopcu polskim]” (English: Elegy For A Polish Boy): “Before you fell, you hailed the earth with your hand, did it soften your fall, my sweet child, did the heart burst?” (translation by Barry Keane: https://allpoetry.com/Elegy-For-A-Polish-Boy.)
Other badge pins published on our website
World War II-related badge pins are the next in a series of badge pin collections from the holdings of the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union, that we have already described on our website:
– Badge pins worn on clothing to commemorate Pope John Paul II’s pastoral visits to Poland
Badge pins worn on clothing to commemorate Pope John Paul II’s pastoral visits to Poland
– Badge pins worn on clothing to commemorate Working People’s Pilgrimages
Badge pins worn on clothing to commemorate Working People’s Pilgrimages
– Seal impressions from prisons and detention camps in the Stanisław Bieniek Collection
Seal impressions from prisons and detention camps – Stanisław Bieniek Collection
Visit us at the in the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union
If you are interested in the attached documents and in our other archival materials please contact us first by email: , or by phone: +48 58 3084392, as there is a limited number of desks in the Reading Room. We are open Monday to Thursday at 9:00 am – 3:30 pm.
/Łukasz Grochowski, the Archives of the National Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union,
Iwona Flis, Stanisław Flis Foundation “Pomerania Archives”/
