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danielsand · 06-12-2015, 01:52 PM

I've seen something like this "55ZWO3" long time ago in Poland (Warsaw). The owner told me at that time, that his pistol was used by his brother in the "Warsaw Uprising" (It was NOT on the Parabellum, but on P38!!), and the underground Polish fighters marked their weapons in this way (destroying Nazi markings), and stamping "55ZWO3" on them. He told me what this marking meant, but since it's been about 45 years since I've seen it.........I forgot.

Maybe someone familiar with that part of Polish history can chime in.

Edited to add (cause I am as curious as a cat!):

OK,.......made a call to Poland, where the son of the guy I met back in 1971, still has this P38 in his possession. He says that "ZW" stands for "Zwiazek Walki", or loosely translated "Armed Struggle". Not sure what is "55", or "03" (not even sure if it's letter "O", or zero!). He thinks "ZERO THREE" might be a code for the unit, and he swears that his pistol was marked by one of several underground Polish factories, that produced (from scratch) weapons throughout Nazi occupation, and restamped the captured ones.

So,.......few minutes later, he calls me back and tells me this:

A fellow by the name Sypniewski, formed an underground factory called "Factory Number 5" in Warsaw in 1943. Factory produced several hundred weapons (and purportedly restamped captured ones!) until April 1944, when it was raided by Gestapo, and all workers were tortured to death. The main entity these weapons were intended for was (hold your breath!)...."Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej" ("Armed Struggle Union"), which was later renamed into "Armia Krajowa" ) or "Home Army".

I bet someone with a lot of time on hand can decipher these markings completely, and they ARE not "personalization", "getting carried away with stamps', or such. We are looking at a genuine piece of history here, and a RARE one at that!

A little more info never hurts.

I apologize for re-editing this so many times,....but he just called back and apologized for the previous inaccurate info. "Factory Number Five" was NOT in Warsaw, but in Krakow! I'm sure if the OP wants to "dig" deeper, all kinds of info should be available in Krakow archives. At least now you have a good point to start.

06-12-2015, 01:52 PM	#12
danielsand User Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: SoCal Posts: 137 Thanks: 52 Thanked 100 Times in 43 Posts	I've seen something like this "55ZWO3" long time ago in Poland (Warsaw). The owner told me at that time, that his pistol was used by his brother in the "Warsaw Uprising" (It was NOT on the Parabellum, but on P38!!), and the underground Polish fighters marked their weapons in this way (destroying Nazi markings), and stamping "55ZWO3" on them. He told me what this marking meant, but since it's been about 45 years since I've seen it.........I forgot. Maybe someone familiar with that part of Polish history can chime in. Edited to add (cause I am as curious as a cat!): OK,.......made a call to Poland, where the son of the guy I met back in 1971, still has this P38 in his possession. He says that "ZW" stands for "Zwiazek Walki", or loosely translated "Armed Struggle". Not sure what is "55", or "03" (not even sure if it's letter "O", or zero!). He thinks "ZERO THREE" might be a code for the unit, and he swears that his pistol was marked by one of several underground Polish factories, that produced (from scratch) weapons throughout Nazi occupation, and restamped the captured ones. So,.......few minutes later, he calls me back and tells me this: A fellow by the name Sypniewski, formed an underground factory called "Factory Number 5" in Warsaw in 1943. Factory produced several hundred weapons (and purportedly restamped captured ones!) until April 1944, when it was raided by Gestapo, and all workers were tortured to death. The main entity these weapons were intended for was (hold your breath!)...."Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej" ("Armed Struggle Union"), which was later renamed into "Armia Krajowa" ) or "Home Army". I bet someone with a lot of time on hand can decipher these markings completely, and they ARE not "personalization", "getting carried away with stamps', or such. We are looking at a genuine piece of history here, and a RARE one at that! A little more info never hurts. I apologize for re-editing this so many times,....but he just called back and apologized for the previous inaccurate info. "Factory Number Five" was NOT in Warsaw, but in Krakow! I'm sure if the OP wants to "dig" deeper, all kinds of info should be available in Krakow archives. At least now you have a good point to start. Last edited by danielsand; 06-12-2015 at 03:06 PM.