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Warsaw Uprising veteran Józefa Marciniak dies at 104

27.07.2026 17:00
Józefa Marciniak, a medic and courier during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Nazi German occupation, has died at the age of 104, a Polish foundation that works to preserve the memory of war veterans has said.
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Pixabay LicenseImage by Pro File from Pixabay

The Don't Forget About Us Foundation announced Marciniak's death in a post on X on Sunday, describing her by her wartime nom de guerre "Kropka" (Dot).

During the uprising, Marciniak served in a Home Army unit commanded by Lt. Czesław Sitarz, whose nom de guerre was "Iskra" (Spark), Poland's PAP news agency reported.

In a 2017 interview, she recalled helping the wounded and rescuing people trapped under rubble during the 63-day uprising, according to the Polish state news agency.

"I helped the sick and those buried under the debris," she said.

Marciniak said in the interview that before World War II, young Poles had been raised in a strong tradition of patriotism and religious values, and that serving the country "until death" was regarded as a duty.

"My entire time in Warsaw and my work in the resistance before the uprising were the fulfillment of that duty," she said.

After the war, Marciniak devoted herself to documenting history, publishing books on the role of women in the Home Army, the wartime Polish resistance movement.

The Warsaw Uprising, launched on August 1, 1944, was an attempt by the Polish underground to liberate the capital from German occupation before the arrival of Soviet forces.

The uprising was crushed after 63 days of fighting, leaving much of the city destroyed and an estimated 18,000 resistance fighters and 200,000 civilians dead.

The uprising is seen as one of the most heroic and tragic chapters of Poland's WWII history and the largest military operation carried out by an underground resistance movement in German-occupied Europe.

The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was one of the most heroic and tragic Polish battles of World War II and the largest military operation by any underground resistance movement in German-occupied Europe. The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was one of the most heroic and tragic Polish battles of World War II and the largest military operation by any underground resistance movement in German-occupied Europe. Photo: NAC/Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe/Public domain

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Source: PAP, polsatnews.pl