Stefan Chrzanowski, 1st Warsaw Tank Brigade

[jefflgarrison]

Recently I purchased a set of medals to a Polish soldier.

Stefan Chrzanowski was a soldier in the 1st Warsaw Tank Brigade "Heroes of Westerplatte". This is the same brigade in which was Zbegniew Michel.

Along with the medals were nearly all the award cards issued with the medals, which included:

Russian Awards:
Medal "Liberation of Warsaw" (with document)
Medal "Capture of Berlin" (with document)
Medal "Victory over Germany" (with document)

Polish Awards:
Medal "Za Oder-Nyse-Bałtyk"
Medal "Za Warszawa"
Medal "Za Udział Walkach O Berlin" (with document)
Bronze Medal "Militari Virtuti - Zasłużonym na Polu Chwały 1944" (with document)

In addition there were several documents included with the medals that give glimpses into the soldier's fighting career.

One document lists the parts of the Red Army with which Stefan served.
They include:
1st Ukrainian Front - January-April 1944
1st Bylorussian Front - July 1944 - March 1945
2nd Bylorussian Front - March - May 1945

It also states that he was wounded in February 1944 while with the 1st
Ukrainian Front for which he received the Bronze medal "Militari Virtuti".

Another document congradulates Mr. Chrzanowski for his heroic participation in the fight to liberate Warsaw-Praga (east bank of the Vistula) and signed by his commander colonel Malutin.

One of the other documents that was in Russian and I would like to ask that someone help me out by explaining what it is.

As I learn more, I will continue to add to this thread.

[Nack]

I've got a set of polish medals with cards -- the cards are really cool.

[Eryk]

Another document congradulates Mr. Chrzanowski for his heroic participation in the fight to liberate Warsaw-Praga (east bank of the Vistula) and signed by his commander colonel Malutin.

Ohhhhh! Is there a date on this document? Don't have my books with me, so this is off the cuff but in a nutshell the Soviet dates for the Liberation of Warsaw are very limited, and about 6 months after the initial fighting in Praga (which was in August-October 1944, iirc). Little known is that Polish troops fighting with the Soviets crossed the Vistula into Warsaw proper during the uprising in 1944. They were withdrawn pretty quickly back to Praga, being unable to breakthrough to the Poles who by this time had been driven from the river and surrounded in pockets in Warsaw. The Soviets had reached the city, but claimed they were too weak to assist the Home Army (mainly pro-Western Poles) in thier fight. So the Poles were defeated, slaughter ensued, and when the Soviets finally "liberated" the city in January, 1945 (again iirc), there was no Home Army to contend with.

Anyway, don't know if 1st TB was involved in the earliest fighting, but if they were it'd be interesting to know if your man was one of the few who insisted on trying to help his country men. (Again, if memory serves the Polish unit(s) that crossed were volunteers, and did so with only grudging approval from the Soviet command.)

[jefflgarrison]

The top portion has the date 14 September, 1944 and was signed on 17.09.44

So it seems that it is unlikely for any action helping the Home Army (AK) since that action took place September 16-21.

[Eryk]

Yes, seems a bit early. But it's definitely for the fighting at the time of the rising. Nice.

[jefflgarrison]

A bit of additional information from his "Książecyka Wojskowa" (Army book).

1939 - He was drafted into the 121st Infantry Regiment of the Soviet Army as a rifleman.

January 19, 1944 - He was moved to the 18th Army (Polish 2nd Tank Regiment) as a tank mechanic.

September 5, 1944 - He was moved to the 1st Warsaw Tank Brigade as a tank mechanic.


Wounds:
1944 during the fight for Kalinowka he was wounded in the left thigh.
1945 during the fight for Studzianka he was wounded in the right hand.