us-005578-irn46828-irn13588
type: RecordSet
archival history: The medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Museum in 1999 by Elizabeth Lusthaus Strassburger, the daughter of Dr. Edmund Lusthaus.
biographical history: Edmund Lusthaus was born on August 2, 1899, in Brzozow district of Sanok, Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now in Poland. His parents were Berisz (Bernard) and Chana Gitla Lusthaus. He had a brother Benedykt. He attended medical school at Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov, Poland, and also studied in Vienna. He met his wife, Helena Amkraut, in Lvov where she was studying pharmacology. She was born in Przemysl on June 8, 1911, but grew up in Sanok. Edmund and Helena married on May 17, 1936, and settled in the resort town of Iwonicz, where there were few other Jewish inhabitants. Edmund established a private practice. On May 15, 1938, they had a daughter, Elzbieta, born in Krakow because Edmund insisted on going to a large city hospital. The family was assimilated and spoke Polish at home. When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Edmund was drafted into the Polish Army. Before reporting for duty, he went to Stryj to say goodbye to his parents. While he was there, the Soviet army invaded Poland from the east. Edmund was captured by the Russians in Stryj and sent to work as a physician at a Soviet prison for Polish political prisoners in Stryia, then Novosibirsk (Siberia). He was later transferred to a camp in Asino, near Tomsk. The prisoners worked twelve hour shifts in a lumber mill and most of the illnesses were caused by vitamin deficiency and overwork. During this time, Edmund was able to correspond with his family. His wife and infant daughter were stranded in the German section of Poland. But by November 1939, they had relocated to Tarnow to stay with Helena's mother, Sophie Lieberman Schiff. The Germans required all Jews to perform forced labor and Helena worked as a seamstress for the Germany Army. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.The Soviet government released Polish prisoners of war to join in the fighting. Edmund joined the Polish Army in the East, a volunteer military unit known as Anders Army, formed by the Polish Ge…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Circular, shiny, silver colored cupro-nickel alloy medal with a striped grosgrain ribbon. The medal has a raised rim and smooth edge, 1.375 in. diameter. On the front is an embossed image of a male head in left profile, the crowned effigy of George VI, with Latin text circling the border. The reverse has an embossed image of a triumphant lion trampling a 2-headed dragon that symbolizes the Axis Powers with dates embossed in the upper right. Artist's initial's are embossed on the front and the designer's on the reverse. At the top of the medal is a suspension ring with a cylindrical top bar through which the ribbon is inserted. The vertically striped ribbon has a narrow central red stripe flanked by narrow white stripes, wider blue stripes, and red stripes at the edges, the colors of the British flag. The ribbon edges are not sewn together.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1939-01-01
has beginning date: 1948-01-01
has end date: 1948-12-31
has end date: 1945-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: lat
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn13588
is or was included in: us-005578-irn46828
record resource extent: overall: Height: 4.875 inches (12.383 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: War Medal 1939-1945 and ribbon awarded to Dr. Edmund Lusthaus by the British government for his service in the 2nd Polish Corps, a unit of the British Armed Forces during World War II. When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Lusthaus was drafted into the Polish Army. Seventeen days later, the Soviet army invaded from the east. Lusthaus was captured and taken to a camp for Polish prisoners of war in Novosibirsk, Siberia, where he served as a physician. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Soviet government released the Polish POWs to join the fighting. Lusthaus joined the volunteer Polish Army of the East, known as Anders Army, formed by General Anders with through an agreement with Stalin. In August 1942, the unit left Soviet territory and became the 2nd Polish Corps, British Army. The unit trained in the Middle East and fought against German forces in Tobruk in North Africa. In February 1944, they deployed to join the British 8th Army in the Italian Campaign. The Corps fought its way north and was honored for bravery in the May 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino. The unit was in Italy on May 7, 1945, when the war ended. When Edmund learned that his wife Helena and 7 year old daughter Elzbieta had survived and were in a displaced persons camp in Germany, he arranged to have them brought to Italy circa September 1945. Helena and Elzbieta had lived in hiding in Poland under false identities as Catholics. In December 1946, the family emigrated to England.
title: War Medal 1939-1945 with ribbon awarded to a Jewish medical officer, 2nd Polish Corps