Kotwica

For other uses, see Kotwica (disambiguation).
Kotwica
Adopted1942
Motto
  • pomścimy Wawer
  • Polska walcząca
BadgeLetters P and W forming an anchor
UseHome Army
DesignerAnna Smoleńska
On a monument to the Warsaw Uprising at the Banku Polskiego in Warsaw

The kotwica ([kɔtˈfit͡sa]; Polish for 'anchor') was an emblem of the Polish Underground State and Armia Krajowa (AK; tr. '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 pomścimy Wawer (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 Polska walcząca (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 kotwica.[1] Smoleńska was arrested by the Gestapo in November 1942, and died in Auschwitz in March 1943,[2] at the age of 23.[3]

  1. ^ Andrzej Gładkowski (2008). "Znak Polski Walczącej". Andrzej Gładkowski, Wydawnictwo fundacji „Warszawa walczy 1939 – 1945”. Związek Powstańców Warszawskich. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ Tomasz Szarota (2013). "Historia Kotwicy Polski Walczącej". with historical photographs. Archived from the original on 21 November 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  3. ^ Adam Cyra (2012). "Anna Smoleńska, twórczyni znaku Polski Walczącej". Auschwitz Memento. Retrieved 7 July 2013.