Objects

A side cap

Before the outbreak of World War II, Marek Szwarc spent his holidays in the picturesque town of Dinard on the Atlantic coast. On 3 September 1939, he reported in Rennes (the capital of Brittany) to the Polish Army. He was summoned to report to barracks on 6 November that year and was sent, like 22,000 Polish volunteers, to a military camp in Coëtquidan in Brittany. He served in the chancellery and the administrative company. As he recalled: "as long as I was in France a rifle [rifle] in my hand I did not have. Pen and paper were my only weapons. [...] At first, I realised how unfit I was as a soldier. First, my years. 47 [...] Then, the reality of military service demands certain brutality, which is recognised as the only factor in human coexistence [...]. Well, my disposition was not really suited to a life of brutality. The first months intimidated me, as a result of coming into contact with this environment, where the attitude to the meaning of life was just the opposite of the one I had previously had and still have". (the so-called big notebook of Marek Szwarc, see MPOLIN-A12.1.11).

A khaki-coloured side cap, one of the elements of the field uniform of the Polish Army in Great Britain, is the only (apart from letters and drawings) material souvenir of Marek Szwarc's military service during World War II. He only wore it in Scotland because, as he recalled, in France: "on my head, I had a French cap with a red bottom of indefinite style, as not on my first head resting anymore and which for this reason from fantasy to fantasy had in its expression something of a vagabond [vagabond] sleeping under a bridge" (the so-called big notebook of Marek Szwarc, see MPOLIN-A12.1.11.

Renata Piątkowska

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Information about the object
Organization / label
unknown
Object type
headwear
Time of creation / dating
20th century
Place of creation
United Kingdom (Europe)
Technique
machine sewing
Material
brass
fabric
Keywords
Copyrights status
the object is not protected by copyright law
Owner
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Identification number
MPOLIN-M1176
Localization
The object is not currently on display