Teresa Łubieńska, née Skarżyńska (

Russian Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish people, Polish State (polity), state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of ...

, 18 April 1884 – London, 25 May 1957), was a social activist, Resistance fighter – lieutenant in the

Polish Underground Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II, resistance movement in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 fr ...

– and survivor of two

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she settled in England, where she worked on behalf of Nazi-German camp survivors. In May 1957, she was the victim of an unprovoked and fatal stabbing at London's

Gloucester Road tube station Gloucester Road () is a London Underground station in Kensington, West London, England. Its entrance is located close to the junction of Gloucester Road and Cromwell Road. Close by are the Cromwell Hospital and Baden-Powell House. The station ...

. The assailant was never traced and her

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

remains unsolved.

Biography

Born into a noble Polish family in South-eastern Poland, she was the daughter of Władysław Skarżyński and his wife, Dorota Gołębiowska. Teresa was educated at

Jazłowiec College Jazłowiec (uk: Язловець, romanized: Yazlovets) was a Polish language Catholic lyceum founded in 1863 by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ("Niepokalanki" in Polish), expressly for th ...

, an élite Catholic boarding school for girls, run by the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, in Jazłowiec in the

Podole Podole may refer to: *Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester Rive ...

region. In 1902 she married Edward Łubieński (1871–1919), a member of a once powerful clan and went to live on the family estate in

Łaszów Łaszów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Pałecznica, within Proszowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Pałecznica, north-east of Proszowice, and north-east of th ...

. They had a son, Stanisław, born in 1906 followed by a daughter, Izabela, born in 1910. There, Teresa became an active member of the

Polish Red Cross Polish Red Cross (, abbr. PCK) is the Polish member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its 19th-century roots may be found in the Russian and Austrian Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. On regaining its ind ...

and continued supporting the

14th Regiment of Jazlowiec Uhlans 14th Jazłowiec Uhlan Regiment (, 14 puł) was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic, also a unit of Polish Armed Forces in the West and the Home Army. During the interbellum, the regiment garrisoned Lwów. It was named aft ...

, an association dating from her school days. She was widowed in 1919. Her son attended a military academy and passed out as a cavalry officer, later killed in the

September campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Sovie ...

of 1939. Early during the

German occupation of Poland in World War II German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

Teresa moved to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and lived at no. 6 Sierpnia Street. During the occupation, she organised assistance for the civilian population of the capital. Her flat was also the venue of clandestine meetings of the Polish resistance cells. In 1942, she was betrayed to the Nazi authorities, arrested and taken to the

Pawiak prison Pawiak () was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Congress Poland. During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia. During the World War II German occupation of ...

for interrogation. From there, she was sent to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

and later moved to

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...

where her death sentence was commuted owing to the timely intervention of the

Swedish Red Cross The Swedish Red Cross ( Swedish: ''Svenska Röda Korset'') is a Swedish humanitarian organisation and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Founded in 1865, its purpose is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wher ...

. After liberation, Łubieńska came to the United Kingdom along with thousands of other

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

s from German camps. She settled in London where she resumed her work on behalf of war-time prisoners and sought compensation for them. Łubieńska was a close friend of

British agent,

Krystyna Skarbek Maria Krystyna Janina Skarbek, (, ; 1 May 1908 – 15 June 1952), also known as Christine Granville, was a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. She became celebrated for her daring exploi ...

, also known as 'Christine Granville', who was murdered by a stalker and whose funeral she attended at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

in June 1952.

Assassination

Teresa Łubieńska was stabbed five times on the evening of 24 May 1957 on the eastbound

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a Deep level underground, deep-level London Underground line running between the west and the north of London. It has two western branches which split at Acton Town tube station, Acton Town and serves 53 stations. The li ...

platform at Gloucester Road, in an unprovoked attack on her way home from dinner with friends in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

. Until the previous stop at

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

, she had been in the company of a Polish army chaplain, Fr. K. Krzyżanowski (himself a survivor of

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

). A few days before her death, she had told friends that she had been to the police to tell them that she felt threatened and that her life could be at risk. The

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

subsequently carried out 18,000 interviews in the course of their murder investigations. Her death remains a mystery. Teresa Łubieńska died in St Mary Abbots Hospital,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

in the night of 25 May 1957. She was buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

in London. In 2021, the case was the subject of Episode 6 of '' Railway Murders''.

References

External links

* http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/video/picture-of-countess-teresa-lubienska-stabbed-at-news-footage/193-57-08 * http://www.polishnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=93:history (historical background to Countess Lubienska's war-time connections) * http://www.ulanijazlowieccy.pl/index.php?categoryid=47 {{DEFAULTSORT:Łubieńska Teresa 1884 births 1957 deaths People murdered in 1957 Polish countesses Nobility from Warsaw Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Polish resistance members of World War II Polish women in World War II resistance Assassinations in the United Kingdom Polish people murdered abroad Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom People murdered in London Deaths by stabbing in London Burials at Brompton Cemetery Unsolved murders in the United Kingdom Home Army officers Polish women activists Violence against women in London Female murder victims 20th-century Polish nobility