Kotwica Kołobrzeg

The (; Polish for 'anchor') was an emblem of the Polish Underground State and (AK; 'Home Army') used during World War II. It was created in 1942 by members of the Wawer minor sabotage unit within the AK, as an easily usable emblem for the struggle to regain the country's independence. The initial meaning of the initialism ''PW'' was (We shall avenge Wawer), in reference to the 1939 Wawer massacre, which was considered to be one of the first large scale massacres of Polish civilians by German troops in occupied Poland.

At first, Polish scouts from sabotage units painted the whole phrase upon walls. However, it was soon abbreviated to PW, which came to symbolise the phrase (fighting Poland). In early 1942, the AK organised a contest to design an emblem to represent the resistance movement, and the winning design by Anna Smoleńska, a member of the Gray Ranks who herself participated in minor sabotage operations, combined the letters P and W into the . Smoleńska was arrested by the Gestapo in November 1942, and died in Auschwitz in March 1943, at the age of 23.

History

The was first painted on walls in Warsaw on 20 March 1942 by Polish boy scouts, as a psychological warfare tactic against the occupying Germans. On 27 June, it was used for a new form of minor sabotage: in order to commemorate the day of the patron saint for President Władysław Raczkiewicz and commander-in-chief Władysław Sikorski, members of the AK stamped several hundred copies of the German propaganda newspaper with the . This would become an annual event during the occupation: only 500 papers were defaced in the first year, but this the number grew to 7,000 the year after.

On 18 February 1943, General Stefan Rowecki, commander of the AK, issued an order specifying that all sabotage, partisan and terrorist actions be signed with the . On 25 February, , the official press outlet of the AK, called the "the sign of the underground Polish Army". The emblem gained enormous popularity and became recognised throughout the country. By the later stages of the war, most of the political and military organisations within Poland had adopted it as a symbol, even those not linked to the AK. It was painted on city walls, stamped on German banknotes and postage stamps, and printed on the headers of underground newspapers and books. It also became one of the symbols of the Warsaw Uprising, as ''PW'' is also an initialism for and .

After the war, Poland's communist regime banned the , although it continued to be used abroad by associations of former AK members living in exile. Prohibition on the emblem's use was relaxed in the later years of communist rule, and in 1976 it became one of the symbols of (ROPCiO), an anti-communist organisation defending human rights in Poland. It was also adopted by other anti-communist political organisations, ranging from the rightist Confederation of Independent Poland (KPN) of Leszek Moczulski to Fighting Solidarity, an organisation formed in response to the de-legalisation of the independent trade union Solidarity and government repression of opposition after martial law was declared in 1981.

Gallery

File:Polish Underground Symbol on Pilot Monument.jpg, The Aviator Monument in Warsaw, taken during the German occupation, with graffiti added by member Jan Bytnar
File:Lotnika Monument in Warsaw 02.jpg, The that was permanently added to the Polish Pilots monument in 2010
File:Warsaw Uprising - Getto Bunker at Muranowska Street.jpg, Painted on a German bunker near Bonifraterska Street during the Warsaw Uprising
File:Flaga PPP.svg, The unofficial wartime flag of the and the Polish Underground State
File:Zoska odzn bt.png, On the emblem of the battalion of the
File:AK MIOTLA.jpg, On the emblem of the battalion of the
File:Krzyz AK 64081946chl.jpg, On the cross of the
File:Dewiza-SW.jpg, Incorporated into the Fighting Solidarity logo
File:Aleje Ujazdowskie - miejsce pamięci zamachu na Kutscherę - 04.JPG, On the back of a memorial commemorating SS Police Chief Franz Kutschera's assassination by the Polish resistance
File:Ak grupa kampinos pomnik01.jpg, On a monument in the cemetery dedicated to the Kampinos Group of the AK in Budy Zosine
File:The Observation Tower of the Warsaw Uprising Museum.JPG, On the observation tower of the Warsaw Uprising Museum
File:Warszawa2qe.jpg, On the wall next to the Warsaw Uprising Monument in Krasiński Square
File:Bielany Pomnik Armii Krajowej 001.JPG, On the AK monument in Bielany
File:Kopiec2 DSC1536.JPG, On top of Warsaw Uprising Hill

See also

* Home Army
* Polish resistance movement in World War II
* Minor sabotage during World War II in Nazi-occupied Poland
* Warsaw Uprising
* Symbols of Poland

References

History of the Kotwica
(in Polish) Internet Archive. Retrieved July 7, 2013.


(in Polish)

Further reading

* Lesław J. Welker "Symbolika znaków Polski Walczącej", publisher Adam Marszałek ,
* Jan Bijata, Wawer, Książka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1973

{{Armia Krajowa

Home Army
Polish resistance during World War II
National symbols of Poland