us-005578-irn92319-irn8552
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: a: Silver-colored metal cross pattee medal with ball finials at each point and etched borders painted black. Each arm is etched with Latin text that is painted black. In the center is a circular badge, painted gold, with a green wreath border around a left-facing white and gold Polish eagle. The eagle has its wings outstretched and is holding a thin rod in the left talon. The top arm has an extension loop with 2 attached suspension rings. Looped through the top suspension ring is a grosgrain ribbon with five vertical stripes, narrow blue, black, wide blue, black, narrow blue. The medal, currently on display, is attached to the mount in the exhibit case, so the back cannot be viewed. Based on other Virtuti Militari medals, the back likely has a gold painted center, with a green wreath border around Polish text. b: Rectangular, cardboard presentation box covered with brown textured plastic, called leatherette, with a hinged lid and stamped lines around the edges. On the front of the base there is a brass-colored metal release button to open the box. The interior of the lid is padded and lined with shiny, off-white cloth, which also covers the hinge. The Royal Arms of England, consisting of two rampant lions flanking a crest topped by a crown with a banner beneath, is stamped on the cloth in black ink, with English text below. The interior of the base has an off-white, cloth-covered cardboard liner with a black, velvety cloth covered shaped insert fitted for the medal. There is a small, square piece of tan cloth adhered to the black cloth.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1944 February 18
has beginning date: 1946-01-01
has end date: 1946-12-31
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: pol
has or had some members with language: lat
has or had subject: 1106
has record set type: Item
history: Michal Klepfisz (1913-1943) was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Miriam (neé Rojza, ?-1942) and Jakob Klepfisz (?-1942). His parents were both teachers at Warsaw public schools, and Miriam served as the director of the Association of Jewish Teachers. Jakob came from a long line of renowned Warsaw Hassidic rabbis, but he broke with tradition and joined the Bund. The Bund, or League of Jewish workers in Russia, Lithuania, and Poland was the Jewish Socialist party. Both Miriam and Jakob remained active Bundists as adults, and raised Michal and his older sister, Gina (1908-1942), as such. Growing up Michal was a member of Tsukunft, the youth branch of the Bund, as well as a leader in Morgenstern, the Bund’s sports organization. Through his involvement with the Bund, Michal met his wife, Rose Perczykow (1914-2016). The couple married in 1937, and moved in with Michal’s parents and sister. Michal studied mechanical engineering at the Politechnikum in Warsaw, and graduated in 1939. He began working as an engineer, but his work was interrupted when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Roughly a week after the invasion, the Warsaw Mayor ordered all men of military age to leave the city and move east to avoid being taken by the Germans. Michal left for less than two months before returning to Warsaw. However, all of Rose’s siblings, and their families chose to leave the city permanently, leaving Rose's mother, Rikla, without a place to live in Warsaw. As a result, Rose arranged for Rikla to move in with her, Michal, and his family. On October 12, 1940, the Germans established a Jewish ghetto in Warsaw. Michal, Rose, Gina, and their parents were forced to move into an apartment in the ghetto, and by November, the ghetto was sealed and they were not allowed to leave. Rose was pregnant at the time, and she gave birth to their daughter Irena (Irene, b.1941) on Michal’s 28th birthday. Between July and September 1942, the area in the ghetto where the Klepfisz family lived was rai…
history: The medal and presentation box were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 by Rose Klepfisz, the wife of Michal Klepfisz.
identifier: irn8552
is or was included in: us-005578-irn92319
record resource extent: a: Height: 4.125 inches (10.478 cm) | Width: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) b: Height: 4.750 inches (12.065 cm) | Width: 2.625 inches (6.668 cm) | Depth: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Polish Order of Virtuti Militari 5th Class Silver medal awarded posthumously to Michal Klepfisz, a member of the Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB), who died on the second day of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The medal was issued by the Polish government-in-exile on February 18, 1944, and sent to Michal’s wife, Rose, after the war. Growing up in Warsaw, Michal was an active member of the Bund, participating in their youth branch and sports organization. The Bund, or League of Jewish workers in Russia, Lithuania, and Poland, was the Jewish Socialist party. In 1937, he married fellow Bundist, Rose Perczykow. In October 1940, Michal and his family were forced to move into the Jewish ghetto established in Warsaw. In 1942, after Michal’s parents were transported to the Treblinka II killing center in German-occupied Poland, he decided to escape the ghetto with his wife, and their 1-year-old daughter, Irena. Outside of the ghetto, Michal worked for the underground Bund resistance movement and the ZOB, acquiring and smuggling weapons. He learned to make his own explosives, and set up factories in the ghetto to teach other ZOB personnel. During the Warsaw ghetto uprising, Michal fought in the brush factory district, under the command of Marek Edelman. During the fighting, they came across a German with a machine gun. Michal sacrificed himself by covering the machine gun with his body, and clearing a path for the other men. After driving off the Germans, Edelman and his surviving fighters returned and buried Michal’s body.
title: Polish Order of Virtuti Militari 5th Class Silver medal awarded posthumously to a Warsaw Ghetto Uprising hero