Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross

The Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross is a Polish military decoration established and approved by an order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, on 20 November 1944 to commemorate the bloody victory over the Germans for the mountain range and the Benedictine monastery on Monte Cassino. The heavily fortified massif, which was a key point of resistance in the German belt of fortifications known as the Gustav Line, had effectively stopped the advancing Allied forces since January 1944. The Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross was awarded on the basis of personal orders of the 2nd Polish Corps to soldiers who took part in the battles for Monte Cassino, Piedimonte and Passo Corno, between 12 and 31 May 1944, as well as to those wounded on the battlefield between 7 April and 11 May 1944. The medal was not accepted into the system of decorations of the People's Republic of Poland. By virtue of the Act of 16 October 1992 on Orders and Decorations, the Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross was recognised as a military decoration, and at the same time the decision was made to no longer award it. The presented object, according to the minted number 47920, belonged to Corporal Konstanty Staniszewski (born 1898), who was a member of the Guard Battalion. Anna Lew-Machniak