Maria Gurowska (née Zand; 1 October 1915 - 4 January 1998) was a Polish

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

Personal life

She was born in a Jewish family to Moryc and Frajda (Eisenman) Zand. Her father was an accountant and a trade agent; he died in 1941. She graduated from the "Państwowe Gimnazjum Żeńskie im. E. Szczanieckiej" in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

and then from the Law Faculty of

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

Career

In 1937, she worked as a lawyer in "Centralne Stowarzyszenie Kupców i Przemysłowców Województwa Łódzkiego". During the German occupation in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she hid under the name of Genowefa Maria Danielak. In 1940 she left Łodź with her parents. She lived in

Żyrardów Żyrardów is a town and former industrial hub in central Poland with approximately 41,400 inhabitants (2006). It is the capital of Żyrardów County situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeshi ...

for one year and then moved to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, working as tutor, trader and glove maker. From 1943 on, she was a member of

Gwardia Ludowa Gwardia Ludowa (; People's Guard) or GL was a communist underground armed organization created by the communist Polish Workers' Party in German occupied Poland, with sponsorship from the Soviet Union. Formed in early 1942, within a short time Gw ...

and communist

Polish Workers' Party The Polish Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) and merged with the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) in 1948 ...

, which was under direct control of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

. She was assigned to the signal corp of The People's Army (another partisan, communist groups) at the outbreak of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

and afterwards in Staff of The People's Army. When the Warsaw Uprising fell she left Warsaw along with her mother for

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...

. In January 1945 she was nominated as head of the Department of Information and Propaganda in Częstochowa. She moved again to

in March 1945 to taking the position of propaganda instructor in the Executive Committee of

. As of 1946 she begin to rise in the Department of Justice, becoming prosecutor, judge in

and

and finally judge to the IV Criminal Department of Regional Court on 4 January 1951.Szwagrzyk, 2008 From 1950-1954 she was a member of the secret section inside Regional Court in Warsaw, responsible for judging in political trials on requests from the

Ministry of Public Security of Poland The Ministry of Public Security ( pl, Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), commonly known as UB or later SB, was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it w ...

, unleashing terror against the political opposition. Gurowska was a judge in the trial against general

August Emil Fieldorf August Emil Fieldorf ('' nom de guerre''; “''Nil''”; 20 March 1895 – 24 February 1953) was a Polish brigadier general who served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Home Army after the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising (August 1944 – ...

, whom she sentenced to death. On the wave of

De-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...

she was released in 1956 from the Department of Justice, and finally in 1970 from the position of judge. The Institute of National Remembrance took the case against Maria Gurowska on 5 May 1992 accusing her of court-sanctioned murder of General Fieldorf. Gurowska defended herself, stating the verdict against Fieldorf was legitimate. The trial against Gurowska began on 22 December 1997, but the accused did not appear in court. She refused to appear until her death in 1998.

Feature film

In 2009 a historical drama entitled ''

Generał Nil ''Generał Nil'' is a Polish historical film, based on the life of general Emil August Fieldorf, pseudonym "Nil". The film was directed by Ryszard Bugajski, and was released in 2009. Awards * Special Jury Award, 43rd WorldFest-Houston Internati ...

'' based on Fieldorf's life premiered in Poland to generally positive reviews. It was directed by

Ryszard Bugajski Ryszard Bugajski (27 April 1943 – 7 June 2019) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He directed 23 films and television shows since 1972. His 1982 film ''Interrogation'' starring Krystyna Janda and Adam Ferency, described as "the m ...

with Katarzyna Herman in the role of Gurowska.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurowska, Maria 1915 births 1998 deaths Lawyers from Łódź 20th-century Polish Jews Polish Workers' Party politicians Polish United Workers' Party members 20th-century Polish judges Gwardia Ludowa members Armia Ludowa members Polish women lawyers

Personal life

Career

Feature film

See also

References