Elżbieta Zawacka was a resistance fighter who infiltrated Nazi-occupied Poland, risking everything to smuggle military intelligence to the Allies. Born in Toruń, Poland in 1909, she joined the underground resistance when Poland was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. She soon became the commander of an intelligence network consisting almost entirely of women, and she played a significant role in building a network that spanned the size of Wales.
Zawacka smuggled microfilms of military information hidden in objects such as toothpaste tins, keys, and cigarette lighters. Her perfect German made her an ideal candidate to act as the network’s main courier, often smuggling the illicit cargo to the West, including Berlin, Germany. In 1942, her network was infiltrated by the Nazis, and her name and face were compromised. She was then assigned a new mission to pass orders to the country’s government-in-exile based in London, known as Gen Stefan Rowecki.
Zawacka was instructed to cross occupied Europe and deliver orders to Poland’s government-in-exile, which she accomplished in February 1943. Her journey
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