Maria Wittek

Maria Wittek
Born	August 16, 1899 Trębki, nr. Gostynin, Mazowsze, Russian occupied Poland
Died	April 19, 1997 Warsaw, Poland

Polish Underground State
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Related topics Cultural activities Education History of Poland during 1939–1945

Maria Wittek (wartime codename: Mira, Pani Maria) - born August 16, 1899 in Trębki, a village near Gostynin in Mazowsze, 120 km west of Warsaw – died April 19, 1997 in Warsaw, Poland. She was the first Polish woman to be promoted to Brigadier-General, in 1991 after she had retired. She served in the Polish Army and associated organizations since she was 18 years old. She never married.

Early service

Maria Wittek was born and grew up in the Russian partition of Poland. Her father, Stanisław Wittek, a carpenter, was a member of the Polish Socialist Party and moved with his family to Ukraine in 1915 to avoid being arrested by the Russian authorities. Maria while in high school joined the Polish scout troop in Kiev. She then became the first female student in the mathematics department of Kiev University. At the same time she joined the clandestine Polska Organizacja Wojskowa (Polish Military Organization) - and completed the NCO training course. In 1919 she joined the Polish army group that was fighting the Bolsheviks in Ukraine. Then in 1920 as a member of the Women's Volunteers she fought in the battle for Lwów (now Lviv) and was awarded the highest Polish medal Virtuti Militari for the first time.^[1]

Between the wars

From 1928 to 1934 she was the commander of the Przysposobienie Wojskowe Kobiet - an organization training women for military service. In 1935 she was appointed the head of the women's division at the Institute of Physical Education and Military Training in Bielany, near Warsaw.

In World War II

During the Invasion of Poland (1939) she was the commanding officer of the Women's Military Assistance Battalions. In October 1939 she joined the underground ZWZ which later became the Home Army. She was head of Women's Army Services on the staff of gen. Grot-Rowecki and later gen. Bor-Komorowski. She fought in the Warsaw Uprising and was promoted to Lt.Colonel. After the capitulation she avoided being taken prisoner by the Germans and left the ruins of Warsaw among the civilians. She continued in her staff position of the Home Army until its dissolution in January 1945.

After the war

When the communist government of Poland reopened the Institute of Physical Education and Military Training, she initially returned to her previous position as head of the women's division. However, in 1949 she was arrested by the communist authorities and spent several months in prison. After her release she worked in a newspaper kiosk. She initiated the establishment of the "Commission for the History of Women". After the collapse of communist rule in Poland, President Lech Wałęsa appointed her Brigadier General on May 2, 1991. Thus she became the first Polish woman to attain the rank of general.

April 19, 2007, on the 10th anniversary of her death, a life-size bronze monument of her was unveiled at the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw.

Awards

Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari, - twice
Cross of Independence with Swords, (Krzyż Niepodległości)
Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych)
Warsaw Cross of the Uprising

Sources

↑ Newsletter of the Ministry of Defence

External links

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 163582433

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