Jerzy Długoszowski, Partisan

[Al-muell]

A most recent purchese, that probably won't last long in my collection as I will have to sell it. But before, I will have to get as much of this group as I can (what I have is far from being complete - the family has a lot more stuff (some really cool too), unfortunately, the uniforms have already been sold to some film makers (if they were used in the movie I think of, the guy is probablycursing in his grave)).
So, It's to a most unusual person - a Scouting movement activist, WW2 partisan, post-war militia captain (SB officer, according to the family, but I will have to see more docs to confirm this, however, his Militia ID was unnumbered, and this is commonly associated with the SB, but can as well be an effect of someone's carelessness), painter, writer, journalist and post-89 polititian. And according to the family's friend - a total wierdo (unfortunately there's no good translation of polish "totalnie jebnięty" term:)) who died in 2009.
Anyway, what I got is: A cased set of his medals (incomplete - some are missing and probably he never actually got Auschwitz Cross that is there, altough he personally prepeared this case)
Award boxes for various awards (inclouding some that are not present)
Various award booklets IDs and an ID card of his service pistol (which he should NOT have, as it was supposed to be given back to the militia on the retirement (or death if he was allowed to keep the pistol) togeather with the gun:wow)
about 20 fotographs (inclouding photocopy of his militia ID)
His ribbon bar (one of his most recent versions) - interestingly one award is removed, from the photographs it seems that it could have been Virtuti Militari. It seems that it was either awarded to him after 1989 and then cancelled, or it was awarded to him by the usurpatory president Sokolnicki (he specialises in awarding weterans of the AK, NSZ, Armed Forces in the West and various members of the post 1945 political oposition), then he would deny the award for political or legal reasons.
Some of his Uniform accessories - cap bands and eagle, his scouting movement uniform cap.
Xerox copies of letters from him and to him (one from Jerzy Szmajdziński, a marshal of Polish Parlaiment who died in the Air Crash in Smoleńsk this April)
A xerox copy of his self-portrait (probably won't be able to get any of his art works, as they were promised to the town museum in Bielawa).
His Notebook from his Militia training course from 1975 (containing some data that WAS secret at that time).
Unfortunately, some of the paper items are in bad condition, as they suffered during the recent floods)
I will have more of his stuff in the middle of the month.
I was hoping that the family could provide a short biography of him, but they are unwillig as his daughters don't want to have anything to do with him anymore (sic!). So unless he wrote something about himself, I will have to get the story from documents.

[Al-muell]

more pics...
Btw those xerox copies were all made by him, that's why they have some strange additions...

[Al-muell]

And the last one:

[charlet]

hello, this is an amazing group.

How can a veteran bear a cross he never has been awarded? Did he have the right to purchase the Auschwitz cross? Do you know what are the missing awards?

the blue band for a visor cap is one for militia, isn't it?

about the ribon bar, the blue ribon with two silver stars on top of the bar, shouldn't be the ribon for wounds?

[Al-muell]

I am not sure, as it wos the Veteran himself, who made that case. But on none of his ribbon bars on the pictures, nor on the one I have is he wearing a ribbon for that award. From the veteran's assosiation ID copy it seems that he was in "penitentiary camp", and that is probably not the same thing as concentration camp. Also, the booklet for the award is not present (but it doesn't have to mean it never existed). He could just had bought the award somewhere just to emphasize a special period of his life. According to what I have learned about him, he spent the last years of his life creating his legend.
So altough he realy was a pre-war scout, he realy was a partisan, realy was twice wounded during the war, he would also state some things about himself that, according to the family, were not true - for example, since late 80's he would chnge his surname from Długoszewski to Wieniawa-Długoszewski, claiming to be relative of a pre-war general, Józef Piłsudski's trusted friend and colaborator, Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszewski. He even added "Wieniawa" to his surname in most of the ID documents he had!
As for the missing awards - probably the old style "in service to the nation" bronze badge (unless he just got the new-type one with the old-style document), "For merits to the healthcare" (didn't know such thing existed, but there's a box for that and ID). He also got some scouting movement badges in the 90's, but those were probably sold togeather with one of his uniforms:(.
Also there's a double ribbon on his bar that I do not recognise and the award is not in the case.
If I can get his Veteran's ID, his Militiaman service booklet etc., I may be able to find the full list of his awards.

[charlet]

Thanks! This story proves that an historic reconstitution from the only docs and medals can be really complex.
I suppose there are national archives were you can find military files about a man (career, awards, citations for awards, etc), such as in Russia, USA, FRance, etc?

[Al-muell]

In Poland it's not as easy - apart from the fact that partisan archives cause always some problem, It is ussually impossible to get some information from the Central Military Archive about anyone who served in the army later than in 1939.
I will try with the local veteran assosiations tough, as well as with the scouting movement.

[charlet]

why this restriction? The research is authorized only for the veteran himself?

[Al-muell]

No restriction, the only problem is that they most often cannot help - the wartime files are in a total mess and the usual answer is that they couldn't locate the file. Even archives from 1945-1989 period are in such a mess that it is hard to obtain any information.
On the other hand - the pre-war archives, altough suffered during the war, are mostly well-described and put in order.

[medals73]

As nations wish to "massage" their history, records from unpopular periods may be neglected or sometimes destroyed.