Poland The Silesian Uprising Cross

[leigh kitchen]

The Silesian Uprising Cross was instituted by National Council decree of 18/10/46 It was awarded in a single grade to soldiers of any of the three Silesian uprisings against Germany of 1919, 1920 and 1921.

It was also conferred on members of the Polish Resistance in Silesia during the years 1939-1945.

[leigh kitchen]

The obverse bears the year ?1921? (beginning of the 3rd uprising) on the left arm, ?1939? on the right, & ?1945? on the lower arm.

The central medallion is enameled light blue, it bears a a silver Silesian eagle & is encircled by a stylized wreath.

Edited April 2, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

The reverse is not enameled & the central medallion bears ?KRN / 1946? (KRN being the abbreviation for National Council). The upper part of the stylized wreath surround is inscribed ?BOJOWNIKOM SLASKA? (To The Fighter For Silesia).

[leigh kitchen]

The ribbon is 36 mm wide & is light blue with white inner and dark red outer edges; in the center there is a wide stripe of green, red, white, red, green, flanked by white pinstripes.

It combines the colours of the ribbon of The Cross on Silesian Ribbon of Valor and Merit and the ribbon of The Order of the Grunwald Cross

[leigh kitchen]

The first word of the name has been subject to erasure, & rewriting, it appears.

[leigh kitchen]

Awarded n 1949:

[leigh kitchen]

The reverse of the award booklet:

[leigh kitchen]

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[leigh kitchen]

The box:

[leigh kitchen]

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[hunyadi]

That is a very interesting award with some very serious undertones of the period in which it was made. Fantastic - I would only assume that these of course are rare and expensive... :rolleyes:

[leigh kitchen]

In terms of scarcity, according to Prof. Dr. Zdzislaw P. Wesolowski, 20,321 were awarded (I would imagine that you're familiar with his guide to scarcity & values).

About 12 years ago he valued the Cross at "4" on his scarcity grading of 1 - 5 (with 1 as the scarcest), monetary value between $250 - $1000.

To quote -

"The rarity and valuation scale I have developed does not take into consideration the economic forces of supply and demand in today?s collector market in determining the price. The index is based upon several major factors: the number of awards made, the era of their issue, the historical period they represent and their metallic value. The sum total of these factors resulted in the determination of the rarity scale and valuation. The listing of documented awarded decorations can give you a true indication of the number of each decoration and their possible value. Current market prices are not taken into consideration because Polish decorations are undervalued due to lack of information. The value of a number WWI Cross of Valor is inelastic from the historical point of view. It is elastic in terms of value over the years which results in an increase of price over time. Please use the rarity and valuation scale as a guide, not a final answer to your collecting needs."

Opinions vary as to how accurate this valuation system is.

A few examples of scarcity grading of Polish Peoples Republic period items:

Silesian Uprising Cross ? 20,321 awarded, scarcity grading 4

Wielkopolski Uprising Cross ? 22,195 awarded, scarcity grading 4

Cross of Valour ? 38,736 awarded, scarcity grading 4

Bronze Medal For Mert On The Field of GloryOn The Field of Glory ? 75,699 awarded, scarcity grading 4

Medal For Warsaw 131,242 awarded, scarcity grading 4

Medal For Odren Nyse, Baltyk ? 321,975 ? 4

Silver Medal For Merit On The Field of Glory? 35,741 awarded, scarcity grading 3, when not far of twice as many were awarded as were The Silesian Uprising Cross, which only merits a "4"

A few examples of Government in Exile items:

Para Badge with wreath - 1,733 awarded, scarcity grading 3

Virtut Miltari, 5th Class, 5,997 awarded, scarcity grading 3

Para Badge without wreath - 6,550 awarded, scarcity grading 3

Order Polonia Restituta, all Classes - 11,222 awarded, scarcity grading 3

Monte Cassino Cross - 48,498 awarded, scarcity grading 4

Home Army AK Cross - 100,000 awarded, scarcity grading 4

Edited April 3, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[hunyadi]

I dont have any reference items for Polish orders and decorations. I only have some loose atachment to Breslau - so things from Silesia have an interest. I will now have to put this on my "wish" list. Thanks for sharing it!

[Kris D]

Hi,

Just came across your post. A very nice example, always nice to see the award documents.

[leigh kitchen]

I like the old award card booklets, compared to the later red covered versions.

I'm not really sure that I've read the name right on this one, any ideas what the name is?

[speedytop]

Hi Leigh,

I think that the name is: Wiktor Kisiel (Kisiel Wiktor)

Regards

Uwe

[seb16trs]

hello, I have the polish-language reference written by Stefan Oberleitner. He indicates 20392 crosses by 1989.

Leighkitchen, the set I showed you in another post is for sale on polish net, on "buy it now" for 80usd approx....