Maria Rutkiewicz
Encyclopedia
Maria Rutkiewicz was a Polish communist and an editor. During the Nazi occupation of Poland, she was a radio operator with the Polish resistance.
/communist
circle and in 1936, she joined the Communist Party of Poland
. In 1938, she and another active Party member, Wincenty Jan Rutkiewicz, known as "Wicek", were married. It was a difficult time. Joseph Stalin
's Great Purge
had eliminated a number of the Polish Communist Party's leaders and in 1939, Hitler invaded the country. Thousands of Polish soldiers were sent to German prisoner of war
camps and there was an order to eliminate the Polish intelligentsia
, that spelled out who was in danger.
With her husband, then a soldier, taken prisoner of war, Rutkiewicz fled to Bialystok
in Russian-occupied Poland. After Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, she fled to Moscow and was recruited into the initiative group of the Polish Workers' Party
(PPR) and trained as a radio operator. She joined a cell of Polish communists led by Marceli Nowotko
that was to parachute into Poland and work in the communist resistance. After one practice jump, the group landed outside Warsaw in the early hours of December 28, 1941. Her husband joined her in Warsaw, having escaped his imprisonment.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
was crushed in May 1943, the Nazis turned their attention to the Polish underground. All but one of Nowotko's cell were caught and shot. Wicek Rutkiewicz was arrested in July and sent to Auschwitz; in September 1943, the Gestapo
burst in on a pregnant Maria Rutkiewicz transmitting radio messages to Moscow. She was beaten, arrested and taken to Pawiak
prison, but then brought back to Gestapo headquarters for interrogation, which included more beatings. The Gestapo told her that because of her condition, they would be humane and only beat her about the face. When she was returned to the prison, the supervisor was unable to recognize her.
Rutkiewicz had been told she would be shot. Meanwhile, she found out she was carrying twins. Polish doctors befriended her and persuaded the Germans to postpone her execution till after the babies were born, twins being a "medical opportunity" for Nazi doctors. Rutkiewicz gave birth on February 16, 1944 to a boy and a girl. She soon learned through the prison underground that her husband had no idea what had become of her and was desperately trying to find out. With the help of a criminal prisoner, she managed to have a photograph taken of herself with the babies, which she then was able to smuggle to her husband in Auschwitz. As the war progressed and the Nazis began to sense defeat, their focus was on destroying documents and the evidence of their crimes. Despite fears she would soon be executed, Maria Rutkiewicz was able to leave the prison with her babies in summer 1944.
Though her husband survived Auschwitz, he perished at Sachsenhausen
at the end of the war. Rutkiewicz also lost her mother and two brothers. Her mother was shot by Nazis; one brother was killed in the army in 1939 and the other fought in the French resistance
, was captured and died at Auschwitz.
of the PPR and the Union of Polish Youth
as a secretary, later becoming an editor. She worked at Iskra
and Gromady.
She was later married to Artur Starewicz, Polish ambassador to the United Kingdom
from 1972 to 1978, and lived in London. In 1978, she was featured in a British television series called Women of Courage about four women who risked their lives in standing up to the Nazis. The other women were Mary Lindell
, a British woman; Sigrid Helliesen Lund
, a Norwegian; and Hiltgunt Zassenhaus
, a German.
Rutkiewicz died June 27, 2007.
Early years and World War II
Maria Rutkiewicz was born in Brześć nad Bugiem (now Brest, Belarus) to Teresa and Miecysław Kamieniecka in a well-educated, liberal family. Her older siblings were active in a socialistSocialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
/communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
circle and in 1936, she joined the Communist Party of Poland
Communist Party of Poland
The Communist Party of Poland is a historical communist party in Poland. It was a result of the fusion of Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania and the Polish Socialist Party-Left in the Communist Workers Party of Poland .-1918-1921:The KPRP was founded on 16 December 1918 as...
. In 1938, she and another active Party member, Wincenty Jan Rutkiewicz, known as "Wicek", were married. It was a difficult time. Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
had eliminated a number of the Polish Communist Party's leaders and in 1939, Hitler invaded the country. Thousands of Polish soldiers were sent to German prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camps and there was an order to eliminate the Polish intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
, that spelled out who was in danger.
With her husband, then a soldier, taken prisoner of war, Rutkiewicz fled to Bialystok
Bialystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Located on the Podlaskie Plain on the banks of the Biała River, Białystok ranks second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area, of the cities of Poland...
in Russian-occupied Poland. After Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, she fled to Moscow and was recruited into the initiative group of the Polish Workers' Party
Polish Workers' Party
The Polish Workers' Party was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland, and merged with the Polish Socialist Party in 1948 to form the Polish United Workers' Party.-History:...
(PPR) and trained as a radio operator. She joined a cell of Polish communists led by Marceli Nowotko
Marceli Nowotko
Marceli Nowotko was a Polish communist activist and first secretary of the Polish Workers Party .Nowotko was a self-educated locksmith. He was a member of the SDKPiL from 1916 and the KPP from 1918. He organised a soviet communist agency in Ciechanów in 1918 and was a member of the soviet in...
that was to parachute into Poland and work in the communist resistance. After one practice jump, the group landed outside Warsaw in the early hours of December 28, 1941. Her husband joined her in Warsaw, having escaped his imprisonment.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
was crushed in May 1943, the Nazis turned their attention to the Polish underground. All but one of Nowotko's cell were caught and shot. Wicek Rutkiewicz was arrested in July and sent to Auschwitz; in September 1943, the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
burst in on a pregnant Maria Rutkiewicz transmitting radio messages to Moscow. She was beaten, arrested and taken to Pawiak
Pawiak
Pawiak was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Poland.During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia....
prison, but then brought back to Gestapo headquarters for interrogation, which included more beatings. The Gestapo told her that because of her condition, they would be humane and only beat her about the face. When she was returned to the prison, the supervisor was unable to recognize her.
Rutkiewicz had been told she would be shot. Meanwhile, she found out she was carrying twins. Polish doctors befriended her and persuaded the Germans to postpone her execution till after the babies were born, twins being a "medical opportunity" for Nazi doctors. Rutkiewicz gave birth on February 16, 1944 to a boy and a girl. She soon learned through the prison underground that her husband had no idea what had become of her and was desperately trying to find out. With the help of a criminal prisoner, she managed to have a photograph taken of herself with the babies, which she then was able to smuggle to her husband in Auschwitz. As the war progressed and the Nazis began to sense defeat, their focus was on destroying documents and the evidence of their crimes. Despite fears she would soon be executed, Maria Rutkiewicz was able to leave the prison with her babies in summer 1944.
Though her husband survived Auschwitz, he perished at Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen may refer to:* Sachsenhausen , a quarter of Oranienburg, Germany* Sachsenhausen concentration camp, a detention and extermination facility established there in 1936...
at the end of the war. Rutkiewicz also lost her mother and two brothers. Her mother was shot by Nazis; one brother was killed in the army in 1939 and the other fought in the French resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, was captured and died at Auschwitz.
Postwar years
After the war, Rutkiewicz worked for the Central CommitteeCentral Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
of the PPR and the Union of Polish Youth
Union of Polish Youth
Związek Młodzieży Polskiej was a Polish communist youth organization, existing from 1948 to 1956...
as a secretary, later becoming an editor. She worked at Iskra
Iskra
Iskra was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Initially, it was managed by Vladimir Lenin, moving as he moved. The first edition was published in Stuttgart on December 1, 1900. Other editions were...
and Gromady.
She was later married to Artur Starewicz, Polish ambassador to the United Kingdom
Republic of Poland Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The first permanent Polish diplomatic mission was created in late 18th century by the last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski. After partitions of Poland, there was over a century gap in diplomatic relations...
from 1972 to 1978, and lived in London. In 1978, she was featured in a British television series called Women of Courage about four women who risked their lives in standing up to the Nazis. The other women were Mary Lindell
Mary Lindell
Mary Lindell , also known as the Comtesse de Milleville, the Comtesse de Moncy and Marie-Claire was a British-born nurse who lived in France and worked independently against the Nazis during World War II. During the First World War, she served as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment and...
, a British woman; Sigrid Helliesen Lund
Sigrid Helliesen Lund
Sigrid Helliesen Lund was a Norwegian peace activist, noted for her humanitarian efforts throughout most of the 20th century, and in particular her resistance to the occupation of Norway during World War II.-Biography:...
, a Norwegian; and Hiltgunt Zassenhaus
Hiltgunt Zassenhaus
Hiltgunt Margret Zassenhaus was a German philologist who worked as an interpreter in Hamburg, Germany during World War II, and later as a physician in the United States. She was honoured for her efforts to aid prisoners in Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:Hiltgunt Zassenhaus was born...
, a German.
Rutkiewicz died June 27, 2007.
Further reading
- Piotr Gontarczyk, Polska Partia Robotnicza. Droga do władzy 1941-1944, Warsaw (2003)