Maria Polaczkówna (1878–1944) was a Polish

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

heraldist Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

and member of the Polish resistance. Polaczkówna died at Zieleniak camp during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

Biography

Maria Polaczkówna was born on 28 August 1978 in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(present-day, Lviv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) to Adam Polaczkówny and Anna Polaczkówna (née Szustow). Polaczkówna's father took part in the Polish revolt called the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

and spent years an exile in France where he completed medical studies. In his absence, his family lived a very modest life. Polaczkówna and her younger sister

Helena Polaczkówna Helena Polaczkówna (1881–1942) was a Polish historian, archivist, sigillologist, and authority in the field of heraldry. She became a war resistor during World War II. She was arrested by German occupiers in Lviv for allowing secret activitie ...

, took on tutoring assignments to earn enough money to afford their education. Despite their modest beginnings, the sisters rose through the academic ranks with each earning a PhD. Maria earned her doctorate in history. During the years before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and then again in the 1920s, she worked with Professor Eugeniusz Romer (Geographical Institute of L’viv University). According to archives in Poland, Maria Polaczkówna was the first archivist to work with the city records in Przemyśl, Poland, when she began in 1917. After some years in Przemyśl, she returned to L’viv, where she taught history and geography at local schools until she retired in 1938. She was the author or co-author of geography textbooks and of a valuable monograph “Wahania klimatyczne w Polsce w wiekach średnich” (Climatic Fluctuations in Medieval Poland, L’viv, 1925).Ciara, Stefan. "Helena Polaczkówna (1881–1942)–Custodian of the Bernardine Archives in L’viv." ''Вісник Львівського університету. Сер.: Книгознавство, бібліотекознавство та інформаційні технології'' 6 (2011): 250-258.

Capture

During World War II, Maria and her younger sister Helena Polaczkówna lived together in

L’viv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(now in Ukraine) at 29 Listopada Street (now Jevhena Konovaltsya Street). During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, Maria and Helena, became involved in educational, charitable and conspiratorial activities. The apartment shared by sisters became a contact point for secret couriers and messengers of the Information and Propaganda Bureau of

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

Headquarters, a system of asylum and safe places where illegal publications could be edited. Reportedly, it was through the carelessness of some co-workers that the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

identified the building and arrested Helena on 27 April 1942. She was tortured and "finally murdered" in Autumn 1942. After Helena's arrest, Maria left L’viv for Warsaw. After participating in the

, on 5 August 1944, Maria was arrested on the street and jailed in a basement on Filtrowej Street. She was last seen alive on 12 August, weak and exhausted.

Selected works

* Polaczkówna, Maria. “Atlasy krajoznawcze: przewodnik metodyczny: ojewództwo warszawskie” (Sightseeing atlases: a methodical guide: arsaw province) * Polaczkówna, Maria. “Wahania klimatyczne w Polsce w wiekach średnich” (Climatic Fluctuations in Medieval Poland, L’viv, 1925).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polaczkowna, Maria 1878 births 1944 deaths Home Army members Polish women in World War II resistance Polish historians Polish women historians University of Lviv people Polish archivists