us-005578-irn47278-irn61187
scope and content: Riband bar, also known as an undress ribbon, with ribbon colors for seven medals awarded by the British and Polish governments to Edward Herzbaum, a soldier in the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division, 2nd Polish Corps, British Army, from 1942-1945. He was in combat with the British 8th Army in Italy from February 1944-May 8, 1945, and awarded for heroism. When Edward was 19, he left Łódź, Poland, shortly after Nazi Germany occupied the country in September 1939 for Soviet controlled Lvov. In June 1940, Edward was exiled to a gulag by Soviet security police. Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Edward was released in an amnesty of Polish prisoners to fight the Germans. He joined the Polish Army of the East, known as Anders Army. In August 1942, the unit left Soviet territory and became the 2nd Polish Corps. In February 1944, they joined the British 8th Army in Italy. The Corps fought its way north and was honored for heroism in the Battle of Monte Cassino. They celebrated VE Day, May 8, 1945, in Italy. Edward learned that his mother died in Łódź Ghetto in 1943. He studied architecture in Rome until the British decided to allow Polish Corps veterans to immigrate to England in October 1946. He then served in the Polish Resettlement Corps for two years, completed his degree, and set up his own architecture firm.
has or had holder: us-005578
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47278-irn61187/acquisitions/1
history: Edward Henryk Herzbaum (later Hartry) was born on October 6, 1920, in Vienna, Austria. He was the only son of a Jewish couple, Dr. Alexander and Fanny Hermelin Herzbaum. Alexander was a chemical engineer, born in Tarnow, Poland, in February 1886 to Mendel (1855-1930) and Chana Ettinger Herzbaum, who married in 1882. They also had a daughter Gisela (1884-1912.) Chana died in 1886. In 1888, Mendel married Beila Lea Ettinger (b. August 22, 1864). Mendel and Beila had two children: Jakob (1888-1966) and Herman. Edward's mother Fanny was born in Boryslaw, Poland, near Lvov on May 30, 1890, to Samuel (d. 1922) and Chaje Sara Backenroth Hermelin. Fanny had four siblings, Rifke (b. 1883), Cirl (b. 1888), Zacharje (1884-1925), and Abraham (1885-1886.) In 1928, Edward's family moved to Poland and settled in Zawiercie. Edward had asthma and wore glasses, as he was very shortsighted. In 1934, they moved to Łódź. Alexander, 51, died in July 1937 of cancer. Edward graduated from high school in May 1938, and deferred his military service to enroll at the Warsaw Polytechnic, Faculty of Architecture. He had completed two semesters when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Edward joined the Polish Auxiliary Forces as a volunteer and was arrested by the Germans with other paramilitary youth a few days later. Edward escaped and returned to Łódź. The Soviet Union invaded and occupied eastern Poland. German occupying authorities in Łódź enacted oppressive anti-Jewish measures. At the urging of his mother, Edward, then 19, left Łódź on December 6, 1939, and went east to Lvov, which was under Soviet control. In Lvov, Edward lived with his maternal aunt and had an assortment of jobs, including office worker at a construction site, skiing instructor, and lifeguard at a swimming pool in a Soviet sports center. In June 1940, Edward was arrested by the NKVD (Soviet Security Police), tortured, and exiled to a gulag near Rybinsk on the Volga River. The prisoners logged and hauled trees in…
is or was included in: us-005578-irn47278
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47278-irn61187/alternateIDs/1
identifier: irn61187
type: RecordSet
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1945-12-31
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
title: Riband bar with seven ribbons awarded to a Jewish soldier, 2nd Polish Corps
history: The riband bar with htree ribbons was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Krystyna Mew, the daughter of Edward (Herzbaum) Hartry.
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1939-01-01
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) | Width: 5.375 inches (13.653 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Seven short ribbon awards hand stitched together in 3 rows: 1st row: blue and black horizontal striped ribbon with a ridged, 5 point gold metal star in the center (Poland: Wound Badge - Virtuti Militari , the star denotes owner was wounded once) ; 2nd row: 4 ribbons, from left to right: first, 4 narrow white vertical stripes alternate with 3 wide light brown or faded red-brown stripes [?, Poland: Army Medal for War 1939-1945); second, 6 light blue vertical stripes alternate with 5 equal red stripes; third, 3 equal stripes, dark blue, red, light blue (1939-1945 Star); fourth, 5 equal stripes, red, white, green, white red (Italy Star); third row has 2 ribbons: the first has 7 stripes: in the center, 3 narrow white, red, white stripes flanked by wider dark blue and red stripes (War Medal); the second ribbon has a wide red center stripe flanked by 2 less wide green stripes bisected by a dark blue line (Defence Medal.) Each ribbon is wrapped around a gray cardboard rectangle. The ribbons are mounted on black felt backing.
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has record set type: Item