Countess Karolina Maria Adelajda Franciszka Ksawera Małgorzata Edina Lanckorońska (Polish pronunciation: a.rɔˈlʲi.na lant͡skɔˈrɔɲska11 August 1898 — 25 August 2002) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

World War II 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 opposing ...

resistance fighter, philanthropist, and historian. Lanckorońska bequeathed her family's enormous art collection to Poland only after her homeland became free from

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

and Soviet domination during the

Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

. The Lanckoronski Collection may now, for the most part, be seen in

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 ...

's Royal Castle and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

Life

Lanckorońska was born in

Gars am Kamp Gars am Kamp is a market town at the Kamp river ( Kamptal) in the district of Horn, region Waldviertel in the Austrian state Lower Austria with 3,542 inhabitants (2016). History Gars was between 1075 - 1095, during the reign of the House of Babe ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, the daughter of

Count Karol Lanckoroński Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, a Polish nobleman from a Galician family, and his third wife, Countess Margarethe Lichnowsky von Woschütz, the daughter of Prince Karl Max Lichnowsky. Malczewski-portret Lanckorońskich

Reared and educated in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, of which much of partitioned Poland was a part), where she attended university. She lived at her family's palace, the Palais Lanckoroński. After Poland regained independence in 1918, Lanckorońska taught at

Lwów University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

. She earned her Ph.D. in History of Art in 1934, habilitated in 1936 by Poland's Ministry of Education. Following the invasion of Poland, including Lwów, by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

along with the attack on Poland by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in September 1939, she witnessed at first hand the terror and atrocities committed by the Soviets and Nazis, which she later described in her ''War Memoirs''. Lanckorońska was active in the Polish resistance and was arrested, interrogated, tortured, tried and sentenced to death at Stanisławów prison. During her stay there, the local Gestapo chief

Hans Krueger Hans Krueger (also spelled Krüger) (1 July 1909 – 8 February 1988) was a German captain of the Gestapo in occupied Poland during World War II, involved in organizing the string of massacres after the commencement of Operation Barbarossa behind ...

(also spelled Krüger), confessed to her that he had murdered 23 Lwów University professors, a war crime that she made it her mission to publicize. Karolina was liberated from the Stanisławów prison through the fortuitous intercession of her distant cousin, the Italian nobleman and musician , who having heard of her arrest, interceded with the wife of the heir to the Italian throne.

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

himself then ordered her arrest after being embarrassed by the remonstrations of the Italian government about her mistreatment. Lanckorońska was then sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women. She somehow survived and, immediately after release in 1945, wrote her war memoirs. After the war, she left Poland and lived in Fribourg, Switzerland, and later, until her death, in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. She did not want her war memoirs published in her lifetime. After much persuasion, however, she consented to publication in Poland, by Znak Publishing of

, in 2001, just a year before her death. The book, whose British version is titled ''Those Who Trespass against Us: One Woman's War against the Nazis'', sold over 50,000 copies in the Polish original and is now selling well in English. The U.S. edition was published in hardback in Spring 2007 by Da Capo Press (Perseus Publishing Group) under the new title, '' Michelangelo in Ravensbrück''. In 1967, Lanckorońska established the Lanckoroński Foundation, which promotes and supports Polish culture, awarding over a million zlotys per annum (US $330,000) for scholarships, publication of learned books, research into Polish archives in countries such as Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, and similar projects. Lanckoronska Tomb

Countess Karolina Lanckorońska died in 2002 in

, Italy, aged 104, and is buried at the

Campo Verano The Campo Verano (Italian: ''Cimitero del Verano'') is a cemetery in Rome, Italy, founded in the early 19th century. The monumental cemetery is currently divided into sections: the Jewish cemetery, the Catholic cemetery, and the monument to the ...

. Her final resting place is located in the 38th quarter (also called ''foreigners quarter'' - ''riquadro stranieri'') of the XIX Vecchio Reparto sector.

Works

* Karolina Lanckorońska, ''Wspomnienia wojenne'' (War Memoirs),

, Znak Publishing, 2001, * Karolina Lanckorońska, ''Mut ist angeboren'' (Courage Is Inborn),

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Boehlau Verlag, 2003, * Karolina Lanckorońska, ''Those Who Trespass against Us: One Woman's War against the Nazis'', Pimlico, 2006, , 366 pp. * Karolina Lanckorońska, '' Michelangelo in Ravensbrück: One Woman's War against the Nazis'', translated from the Polish by Noel Clark, Merloyd Lawrence Books / Da Capo, 2007, 341 pp.,

Honours and awards

*Grand Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

(1991) * Cross of Valour (1942) *Bronze

Cross of Merit with Swords The Cross of Merit with Swords () is a Polish military award established October 19, 1942, by the Polish Government in Exile. Criteria The Cross of Merit with Swords is awarded for deeds of bravery and valor during time of war not connected wit ...

(1946) * Home Army Cross (1968) *

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(1997) *Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

, awarded by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

for her 100th birthday *Honorary doctorate from the Jagiellonian University (1983), Polish University Abroad (1988),

University of Wrocław , ''Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau'' (before 1945) , free_label = Specialty programs , free = , colors = Blue , website uni.wroc.pl The University of Wrocław ( pl, Uniwersytet Wrocławski, U ...

(1990)

Notes

References

Review of ''Those Who Trespass Against Us'', Times Online, February 26, 2006

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanckoronska, Countess Karolina 1898 births 2002 deaths Burials at Campo Verano Polish art historians Polish art collectors University of Lviv faculty Karolina, Countess Karolina Polish centenarians Women in European warfare Female resistance members of World War II Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors Polish female soldiers Polish philanthropists Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Cross of Merit with Swords (Poland) Recipients of the Armia Krajowa Cross Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Dames Commander with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great Polish Austro-Hungarians Women art collectors Polish antiquarians Polish memoirists Bibliophiles Polish book and manuscript collectors Polish people of German descent 20th-century memoirists Women centenarians

Life

Works

Honours and awards

See also

Notes

References