Elzbieta Zawacka

Elżbieta Zawacka was a Polish university professor, scouting instructor, SOE agent and a freedom fighter during World War II. She was promoted to brigadier general of the Polish Army (the second woman in the history of the Polish Army to hold this rank) by President Lech Kaczyński on 3 May 2006. Sometimes called "the only woman among the Cichociemni", she served as a courier for the Home Army, carrying letters and other documents from Nazi-occupied Poland to the Polish government in exile in London and back. Her regular route ran from Warsaw through Berlin and Sweden to London. She was also responsible for organizing routes for other couriers of the Home Army. She participated in the defense of Lwów during the 1939 invasion of Poland, and later in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war, she was arrested by the communist authorities and sentenced to 10 years in prison. She was released in 1955 and resumed her academic career, becoming a professor of mathematics and geography. She was also a founder and president of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers. She died in 2009 at the age of 99.