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Very rare late war Iron Cross 2nd Class certificate to Unteroffizier Harry Dombrowski serving with Kampfgruppe Ziethen. Original ink signature of Vizeadmiral Friedrich Frisius, chief of "Festung Dünkirchen".
Issued at "Dünkirchen, 30.1.1945".
Folded once. Signs of age. Condition 2-.
This document was published in "Iron Cross Award Documents of World War II" by Brian Razkauskas.
Here is the description from the book for this document:
"Here is a unique variant issued by the surrounded authorities of Festung Dünkirchen. Dunkirk was an important city and porton the French coast of the English Channel and the scene of the British escape from France in May 1940. Following the Alliedinvasion of Normandy in 1944, the Germans fortified a number of French ports in order to deny their use by the Allies. Dunkirkwas initially attacked by Canadian Forces moving through France, but was ultimately bypassed and contained.
The eliminationof Festung Dünkirchen was primarily left to Czechoslovakian army units serving with the British but the fortress held out untilthe end of the war. The German units that defended the fortress were a mixed group of Wehrmacht troops but primarily consisted of elements of226. Infanterie-Division. The division was hastily formed in 1944 following the Allied invasion and was generally made up oftroops on furlough from the Eastern Front. It was committed to the fighting in August and immediately suffered heavy losses.As the division retreated, certain elements including its staff, were surrounded and trapped in Calais.
The bulk of the division,however, went on to Dunkirk where it came under Festung command, headed by Vizeadmiral Friedrich Frisius. The defense wasdivided up into multiple Kampfgruppen, one of which was Kampfgruppe Ziethen, which was made up of troops from Grenadier-Regiment 1040 (226. Infanterie-Division). Conditions in the fortress were rough given the lack of supplies, low quality of fightingtroops and the brutal command of Vizeadmiral Frisius. Nevertheless, the fortress held out until May 7, 1945 and surrenderedto Major-General Alois Liska of Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade Group. Among the troops fighting with Kampfgruppe Ziethen at the time was Unteroffizier Harry Dombrowski who was awarded theIron Cross Second Class on January 30, 1945.
His award document was signed by Friedrich Frisius as Vizeadmiral und Kommandantder Festung Dünkirchen and includes the stamp of 226. Infanterie-Division. It is slightly smaller than standard A5 award citationsmeasuring only 13 x 17.5 cm. Given its unique size and format is quite likely a variant produced by the surrounded authorities."
