SERVICE OF THE MEMBERS

of the Women’s Military Training

IN WARSAW UPRISING

Janina Otto (z d. Kamińska) ps. “Marta”

11 VI 1913 - 10 VI 2016

Liaison Officer, radio station at the Government Delegation for Poland

She was born in Warsaw and was the daughter of an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before the war, she was a member of the Woman’s Military Training, where she participated in summer camps in Istebna, learning to ski. In September 1939, she volunteered at the Girl Scouts’ first aid station at the YMCA building on Trzech Krzyży Square, where her duties included transporting bandages to Czerniaków.

Her underground activities began with acts of minor sabotage, such as putting up posters and painting the emblem of the Fighting Poland on walls. She belonged to the Women’s Mine Patrols established in 1940 under the command of Zofia “Doctor” Franio. During the occupation, she lived with her parents on Litewska Street, right next to the Gestapo headquarters. She used this fact to establish a contact point and a transmitting-receiving point for the radio station in the apartment.

During the uprising, she stayed on Krucza Street with Stefan Korboński, the acting Delegate of the Government for Poland, and his wife Zofia, at the radio station that enabled contact between the Delegation and the Home Army Command with London. Throughout the Uprising, Janina was sent with reports, and later, she was also taught to encrypt and decrypt messages. After the end of the uprising, she left the city with the civilian population. With the help of a railwayman she encountered, disguised as a nurse, she escaped from the transport.

Specialized Communication (Juzistki)

Training for communication instructors in the PWK took place in Juzistki courses.

The courses were organized jointly by the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. Its duration was set at 10 months, divided into 4 training periods. During the training, the students mastered knowledge and skills in 22 subjects, totalling 1680 hours. The vast majority of these were specialized subjects. In addition to subjects such as electricity, teletechnics encyclopedias, and regulations for telegraphic traffic service, new ones specific to Juzistki training were introduced. These included: exercises in telegraphy using juza devices and correspondence via juza, tapping, and Morse code on the school network; Morse code exercises; tapping exercises; mail and administration; state regulations for telegraphic and telephonic traffic service, national and international. The most time, 33% of the total hours, was devoted to practical work on the equipment. Training in Morse code operation was aimed at mastering and fluently transmitting from 60 to 90 characters per minute while tapping telegraphy exercises involved sending telegrams by ear at a rate of 60 to 100 letters per minute.

The course for female auxiliary staff was undoubtedly unique in the military education of the Second Polish Republic, but communication, unlike any other field, was suitable for such activities. Women could hold various positions in it both in peacetime and wartime. They joined the staff of postal and telegraph offices throughout Poland. The popularity of this course exceeded the expectations of its organizers.

Radio Stations in the Uprising

When the clock struck “W” on August 1, 1944, not all actions were fully organized. The radio station, which was supposed to reach the Home Army Main Command in Wola, got stuck in Śródmieście, and another radio station called “Błyskawica” – constructed in Częstochowa by Antoni Zębik, did not reach its destination either. The first night of fighting it stood on Wielka Street. The person who hid it there fell a few minutes later on Marszałkowska Street. When it was finally found, it turned out to be damp and needed to be dismantled, dried, and reassembled – which took almost a week. Therefore, as an emergency measure, a new radio station called “Burza” was built from parts found in the building of the Main Post Office occupied by the Insurgents. It transmitted its first message on the night of August 3 on a 52.1-meter wavelength. “Błyskawica” was launched on August 8 on a 32.8-meter wavelength. It became the first phonetic radio station in history to broadcast directly from the battlefield. Through it, broadcasts prepared by the appropriate cell of the Home Army and Polish Radio were transmitted.

During the Warsaw Uprising, radio stations “Jadwiga,” “Jadwiga 1,” and “Jadwiga 4” were operating. “Jadwiga 4” functioned the longest. It appears in the work journals of London stations on August 10 and operates with few interruptions until October 5. “Jadwiga 1,” on the other hand, began operating on August 2 and functioned with significant breaks until September 30. The Council of Ministers made contact with London with the help of Stefan Korboński. From August 1, Korboński tried to establish contact with the government from the premises on Marszałkowska Street, but it was not until August 3 that this was successful. He then moved with the radio station’s staff to Krucza Street 7, and around August 13 – to the building of the Warsaw University of Technology on Noakowskiego Street.

Archival photographs

  1. Janina Otto /source: Archives of New Records
  2. Members of the Women’s Military Training during exercises with a field radio ŁP-10 wz. 28. Camp in Istebna /public domain
  3. Soldiers of the Aviation Company (“checkerboard” on their caps) listening to a broadcast from Błyskawica on a captured radio receiver in the village of Wiersze, around September 15, 1944. Photo by Lech Gąszewski/public domain
  4. North Śródmieście. Technical staff of the insurgent radio station “Błyskawica” at Moniuszki Street. Photo by Joachim Joachimczyk / Warsaw Uprising Museum