Elżbieta Zawacka
Courier, liaison officer, emissary by the nom de guerre “Zo”, professor, soldier and general.
If there’s nothing left to do but jump, I’ll jump – Elżbieta Zawacka.
She was born in 1909 in Toruń. As a young girl she did not realise that Poland was her fatherland. She grew up with many siblings in the house of a former officer of the Kaiser’s army, Władysław Zawacki, who later worked as a civil servant, and Marianna née Nowak. Her first language was German and she only started learning Polish after Poland regained independence.
She studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Poznań University. Her final thesis’ supervisor was professor Zdzisław Krygowski who also mentored the conqueror’s of the Enigma.
In 1935 she received a National Teaching Qualification allowing her to teach in Polish and German. Back in university she got in touch with the Female Military Training Organisation (PKW), training women to defend the country and provide civil aid in the case of a war. She learned horse-riding, archery, leadership, topography and operating firearms. She also finished an instructor course. She worked as a teacher for the PKW until the war broke out.
November 2, 1939, Zawacka got sworn in by the Service for Poland’s Victory. Offering German language lessons and earning money sewing shoes she swiftly organised conspiratorial structures in Silesia region.
In the Liaison Department of the Foreign High Command of The Union of Armed Struggle she took on the nom de guerre of “Zo” (after her late sister-in-law). She set up courier routes between the General Government and Western Europe. Being fluent in German and having many female contacts she travelled Europe, carrying numerous reports and large sums of money.
As an emissary, through occupied France, the Pyrenees and Spain she went all the way to London. She was able to hide the intel in one hand. In tiny items – a lighter and a set of keys – she carried microfilm with important documents. She talked to members of the Polish Government-in-Exile, including the Commander-in-Chief, Władysław Sikorski. She petitioned to give women full military rights. Her argument was the amount of women engaged in the Home Army.
In a report by the VI Division of the Commander-in-Chief Staff she was pejoratively called a feminist – for pointing out shortcomings and negligence. She was however noticed by the British intelligence officers from MI5 who saw her as straightforward, intelligent and brave.
There was a rule that emissaries were not to return to the country. “Zo” however was different. She returned to Poland as one of the Silent Unseen, an elite paratrooper organisation. She was moved to a Waiting Station, a secret base where the Silent Unseen would board a plane going over the drop zone. She was parachuted over Poland on September 9, 1943, somewhere around Warsaw, as part of Operation Neon 4. Zawacka jumped. She landed perfectly. When she was greeted one of the soldiers exclaimed – Christ, a woman! – the only one among the 316 Silent Unseen.
During the Warsaw Uprising she took care of the injured, provided food for the soldiers and aided the Home Army when retreating through the sewers from the Old Town. After the Uprising fell she organised the transfer of a courier from Warsaw, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański. To get to London he travelled a route planned by Zawacka.
After the war she taught in an Olsztyn high school. She was screen by the Ministry of Public Security who led a year and a half long investigation against her. She was thrice convicted to serve a prison sentence. Even there she did not cease to be a teacher. She taught foreign languages amongst others. She taught classes even while pealing vegetables in the prison kitchen.
She was released in 1955 and immediately petitioned to have her right to practise her profession restored. She got a job in Sierpc to which she commuted from Toruń. By mid-1960s she taught at multiple universities in the country. She did research in the field of pedagogy. In 1972 she received a post-doctoral degree. Three years later she returned to Toruń.
She never forgot the role of soldiers and women during World War II. Thanks to her, many plates and statues were raised, commemorating the Polish Underground State. She herself maintained a personal archive, collecting Home Army soldiers’ accounts, photos and souvenirs.
She died two and a half month before her one hundredth birthday.
