Anna Zakrzewska "Hanka Biała" (White Hannah) | |
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| Born | December 24, 1925 (1925-12-24) |
| Died | August 11, 1944 (1944-08-12) (aged 18) |
| Allegiance |  Poland |
| Branch |  Armia Krajowa (Home Army) |
| Rank | Medical orderly |
| Unit |  Batalion Zośka |
| Battles / wars | Warsaw Uprising inWorld War II |
| Awards |  Krzyz Walecznych ("Cross of Valor") |
Anna Zakrzewska (24 December 1925 – 11 August 1944)[1] served with thePolish underground army as a courier and a medical orderly. She was killed in the course of desperate combat during theWarsaw Uprising.
Zakrzewska's underground code name wasHanka Biała (White Hannah). She received training at the end of June and in July 1944 in the Wyszkowa forest. During theWarsaw Uprising, she was assigned to III Platoon ("Felek"), 2 Company ("Rudy") ofBatalion Zośka. Batalion Zośka was established by leaders of the Polish Scouting movement (code name:Szare Szeregi), a centre of resistance to the Nazi occupation.
The Warsaw Uprising began on 1 August 1944. On 11 August 1944, Zakrzewska was killed along with many other soldiers of Batalion Zośka, which was then engaged in combat with the German forces in theWola district of Warsaw.[2] Work as a courier was extremely hazardous; other women of Rudy company who were killed during the uprising includedStefania Grzeszczak,Dorota Łempicka,Zofia Kasperska, andZofia Krassowska.
On 8 August 1944 Batalion Zośka had seized a school building and taken the defending Germans prisoner.[3] The Germans counterattacked, and the battalion held the school for three days. The nurses of the battalion kept a lookout for the enemy, distributed orders, ammunition, and meals, and cared for the wounded. The battalion was forced to evacuate the building, and Zakrzewska left with the others. During the evacuation, they were forced to cross some open ground. It was at this point that Zakrzewska was struck by bullets, probably from a machine gun, and killed. A soldier of theArmia Krajowa who was with her when she died, reported the circumstance of Zakrzewska's death to her parents, Irena and Jan.[3]
Stanisław Sieradzki (code name "Świst"; 1921–2009), the soldier with Zakrzewska at the time of her death, described her as "heroic."[3] Zakrzewska was posthumously awarded theKrzyż Walecznych ("Cross of Valor").