Medal for Warsaw 1939-1945

The 1939-1945 Medal for Warsaw is a Polish military decoration established by a decree of the National Council of 26 October 1945. It was awarded once to those who took an active part in the defence of Warsaw in 1939, those who fought in the resistance movement from 1939 to 1945, participants in the Warsaw Uprising and soldiers who took part in the liberation of Warsaw in January 1945. The medal was designed by Stanisław Łoza (1888-1956) and Stanisław Gepner (1889-1965). The medal was first awarded by the Minister of National Defence and the Presidium of the Union of Participants in Armed Struggle for Independence and Democracy (1945-1949), then, from 1958, also by the Council of State, and from 1989 by the President of the Republic of Poland. One of the first people to receive the medal was Polish President Bolesław Bierut (1892-1956) and some senior Polish military officers such as Michał Rola-Żymierski (1890-1989). For political reasons, most members of the Home Army were not decorated. The law of 16 October 1992, amended by the law of 22 June 1995, ended the awarding of the medal on 8 May 1999. No information is known about the person honoured with the presented medal, which was purchased for the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin in 1986. Anna Lew-Machniak