Cross of Perseverance

The Commemorative Cross of the 6th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions (Krzyż Pamiątkowy 6 pp Leg.), also known as the “Cross of Perseverance,” was a commemorative badge of the 6th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions.

In the winter of 1915–1916, during the fighting near Optowa, the regiment’s then commander, Lieutenant Colonel Mieczysław Norwid-Neugebauer, proposed establishing a cross for the “Sixthers”—soldiers of the 6th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions. The badge was designed by Second Lieutenant Jan Załuska. The regiment’s Officers’ Fund covered the cost of producing the badge at the Czaplicki and Company firm in Kraków. First Lieutenant Jan Służewski went there on this matter for the first time in February 1916.

According to the adopted “Statute of the Military Commemorative Cross of the 6th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions,” it was established to commemorate the regiment’s first anniversary and the battles fought during that period.