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finishing, and it was a high-quality item. Then onSeptember 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland,starting WWII. Defending Polish horse soldierswielding pistols were unfortunately no match forpanzer armies and the overwhelming onslaught ofblitzkrieg warfare. The Radom plant was soonunder German control.

In September 1939, the Radom plant wasplaced under the direction of new managementheaded by an official of the Steyr-Daimler-Pucharms factory in Austria. The plant was idle

for about a year, andthen production begananew. The Polish eaglewas no longer stampedon the slide, althoughother markings remainedthe same. The Germanscalled the pistol theP.35(p), meaning Pistole35 (Polnische) and thismodel designation was additionally stampedon the slide. Other stamps were an eagle over“Wa77,” which designated the Radom plant as theplace of manufacture, an eagle over “623” whichwas the waffenamt inspection stamp of the Steyrorganization, and the acceptance stamp of aneagle over a swastika, indicating Nazi Germanyownership. VIS pistols were provided in large num-bers to the Kriegsmarine (German Navy), Polizei

(police) units, fallschirmjaegers (paratroopers) andthe Waffen SS. The pistol pictured was made in1942, and bears the appropriate German markings.

The quality of pistols produced under Germanoccupation gradually began to decline as the warbore on, and simplification measures were eventu-ally implemented, most notably the elimination ofthe takedown lever. The pivot pins previously heldin by the lever were then staked in place. Still, thepistol was entirely serviceable. In the meantime,the Polish resistance had begun smuggling parts

out of the factory to assemble pistols insecret, and when the Nazis discoveredthis fact, they cruelly and summarilyexecuted 12 workers in front of theirshocked associates at the plant. A num-

ber of these “underground” pistols wereused in the famous Warsaw ghetto upris-ing in 1943, and in the more extensivegeneral Warsaw uprising in 1944.With the Germans fearing sabo-tage, barrel production started atthe Steyr plant in Austria, and thepistols were assembled from Pol-ish parts and inspected there. In

December of 1944 and January of1945, the Soviets occupied Radom. They dis-

covered that the Radom plant’s inventory andmachinery had been removed and relocated.Later it was found that the pistols were beingmade at that time in a concentration camp inZnaim, Czechoslovakia, about 200 kilometersfrom Steyr. These “last ditch” pistols were ofextremely poor quality and used a numberof ersatz expedient parts. Total German-supervised production has been recent-ly estimated to be from 312,000 to350,000 pistols. When the war in Europeended in April of 1945, no further VISpistols were produced. The Radomplant began producing the TT-33Tokarev pistol for the People’sRepublic of Poland under the con-trol of the Soviets. That pistol wasadmittedly inferior to the VIS, butit was the standard for the occu-pying troops. In 1997, at therevived Radom plant (then freeof Soviet control), some com-memorative VIS pistols were

produced for a short while.Today, Radom VIS pistols are quite

collectible but are becoming scarce and hard tofind, particularly the “Polish eagle” guns made priorto the German occupation. Most specimens madeprior to 1944 are very effective sidearms that arewell made, reliable and accurate. No World War IIweapons collection would be complete without oneor more of these interesting and historic handguns.DP

CLASSIC HANDGUNS: The Polish Radom VIS Pistol

“The Polish resistance had begun smuggling parts out of the factory to assemble pistols in secret…a number of these ‘under-ground’ pistols were used in the famous Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943”

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