Polish Women in War and Peace: Family Stories of Emancipation Shaping Historical Writing

• In Event: Through War and Communism: “Unofficial” Memories and Their Role in Contemporary Scholarly Discourse

Abstract

Preserved by women and for women story of the life and struggles of the first generation of Polish emancipated women from the Warsaw intelligentsia is the main focus of this paper. It is based on the family history of Wanda Grabowska nee Babicka (1899-1989), and her older sister Maria Babicka-Zachert (1892-1944). They were active in the I and II World War and in the political and social life of the II Polish Republic. Wanda was the parliamentary secretary of Wincenty Witos and an eager supporter of the Polish People's Party "Piast". She survived the II World War and preserved her story through the Warsaw Uprising and Communism. The second sister – Maria –served as a nurse during the Polish-Bolshevik war in the famous armored train "Śmiały". After the war she received the Nightingale medal. During World War II she worked as a nurse in the Home Army and was murdered during the Warsaw Uprising. The paper is going to compare and discuss how and to what extent such family stories can become an important part of the reflection on past and present in Central and Eastern Europe. to the public memory and to the professional history writing.

Author

• Magdalena Joanna Nowak, U of Gdansk (Poland)