SERVICE OF THE MEMBERS

of the Women’s Military Training

IN WARSAW UPRISING

s. Józefa Słupiańska

12 III 1912 - 21 II 2019

Daughter of Charity, Nurse at the Jesus Child Hospital

She was born in 1912 in Wieluń. As a student, she underwent many trainings, including those by the Polish Red Cross and gas protection. As a result, she decided to join the Women’s Military Training, where she quickly rose to become an instructor. As a young apprentice, she traveled to high schools and secondary schools, conducting training sessions herself. At the same time, she attended the hospital for practical preparations for medical assistance in case of danger. The beginnings were difficult and required a lot of self-work. Changing dressings on open wounds was not pleasant, but it soon became routine for Józefa. At the age of 22, Słupiańska joined the Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1939, she graduated from nursing school and began working at the Jesus Child Hospital on Nowogrodzka Street in the otolaryngology department. After the outbreak of the uprising, she bravely stayed with the sick and rescued insurgents, risking her life. After the hospital was evacuated to Milanówek, she volunteered to return to the hospital to care for the bedridden patients who remained there. She was honored with the Florence Nightingale Medal – the highest award in the world given to nurses by the ICRC – as well as the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. She died at the age of 107. When asked about the secret of her longevity, she replied that she owed it to hard work and prayer.

Citizenship Education

Women’s Military Training educated its members on many levels, and one of them was citizenship education. Its goal was to foster patriotic attitudes, civic responsibility, and skills necessary for functioning in society. Through various activities and training, PWK participants were to be prepared for active participation in political life and potential service to the country. Citizenship education aimed to promote democratic values, develop social skills, and teach community building. Thanks to this, women were to be more aware of their rights and duties towards the state and society, which was expected to contribute to fuller engagement in public and social life. Moreover, service in the PWK helped build a sense of civic responsibility and skills in teamwork and cooperation with others, which, in turn, translated into the development of leadership and organisational skills. The citizenship education program involved 10 hours for participants with a high school census and 20 hours for participants with an elementary school census, which accounted for 5-10% of the total training program. The subjects included topics related to geopolitics, and the history of independence movements with a special emphasis on women’s participation in them. Social aspects of women’s participation in the country’s life, the roles of women citizens, and legislation regarding women in work and family were also discussed. Mandatory topics also included self-education and a visit to an institution or social workshop.

Nuns in the Uprising

During the occupation in Warsaw, there were about 30 female religious congregations. Among them were both habit-wearing and non-habit-wearing sisters. Just like before the war, the sisters were involved in youth education, medical care, feeding the poor, and caring for the elderly, disabled, and orphans. However, during the occupation, they also engaged in underground activities, such as storing weapons, passing on messages from prisons, or hiding people of Jewish origin.

During the Warsaw Uprising, the sisters had to face a new reality. They often showed great heroism and self-sacrifice, many times paying for their service with their own lives. Among the nuns were doctors, and nurses, some of them being the members of the Home Army. The latest findings speak of even 24 congregations actively involved in the Warsaw Uprising.

Many convents were transformed into field kitchens, shelters, or hospitals by the decision of the superiors. Examples include the hospital in the church of the Sisters of the Sacrament in Nowe Miasto or the Sisters of the Resurrection in Żoliborz. In the evenings, the sisters went out to the streets to provide first aid to the Insurgents, but they also did not leave German soldiers without help. They also performed other auxiliary services, washed and darned clothes, and obtained water, medical supplies, or food. In August 1944, there were still a few cows left in the Sisters of Mercy convent on Powiśle. The sisters organized a milk distribution point for infants, which saved many children’s lives at that time. Especially in the first days of the Uprising, nuns were also involved in organizing cultural and spiritual life in the fighting capital.

Archival photographs

  1. Sister Józefa Słupiańska /source: Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of the Warsaw Province
  2. Parade on the occasion of presenting the banner to the Women’s Military Training unit in Warsaw /public domain
  3. Aleksandra Piłsudska presents the banner to the commander of the Warsaw Battalion, Gertzówna. Next to her is Brigadier General Jan Karol Wróblewski/public domain
  4. Sister Lucyna Reszczyńska of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Warsaw Province, with nurses and patients of the Holy Infant Jesus Hospital /Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of the Warsaw Province