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1944 Warsaw Uprising veteran Halina Karmańska dies at 100

09.07.2026 10:30
Halina Karmańska, a medic and courier during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising who later spent decades preserving the memory of the failed Polish revolt against Nazi German occupation, has died at the age of 100.
Warsaw Uprising veteran Halina Karmańska died on June 25, 2026, aged 100.
Warsaw Uprising veteran Halina Karmańska died on June 25, 2026, aged 100.Photo courtesy of Poland's Territorial Defence Force (WOT)

Poland's Territorial Defence Force (WOT) announced her passing last week, saying Karmańska died on June 25.

"With deep sorrow, we bid farewell to our veteran, Capt. Halina Karmańska, known by the wartime codenames 'Hala' and 'Smętek,'" the force said in a statement on social media.

It added that she left behind an enduring legacy and lived a life that was "a testament to extraordinary courage."

Funeral services were held on July 3, when she was buried at Warsaw's Powązki Military Cemetery among national luminaries, Poland's PAP news agency reported.

During the Warsaw Uprising, Karmańska served as a nurse and courier for the Polish resistance.

In the final days of the 63-day insurgency, she took part in the evacuation of a field hospital in the Polish capital's Czerniaków neighbourhood, one of the uprising's fiercest battlegrounds.

After the war, she worked for many years as a physician and became an active educator, sharing her wartime experiences with younger generations to help preserve the memory of those who fought in the uprising.

Karmańska held several of Poland's highest honours, including the Knight's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order, the Home Army (AK) Cross, the Warsaw Uprising Cross and the Gold Badge of Merit for the City of Warsaw.

The Warsaw Uprising, launched on August 1, 1944, was an attempt by the Polish underground resistance to liberate the capital before the arrival of Soviet forces.

It was crushed by Nazi Germany after 63 days of fighting, leaving much of the city destroyed and an estimated 18,000 resistance fighters and 200,000 civilians dead.

The uprising is seen as one of the most heroic and tragic chapters of Poland's WWII history and the largest military operation carried out by an underground resistance movement in German-occupied Europe.

The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was one of the most heroic and tragic Polish battles of World War II and the largest military operation by any underground resistance movement in German-occupied Europe. The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was one of the most heroic and tragic Polish battles of World War II and the largest military operation by any underground resistance movement in German-occupied Europe. Photo: NAC/Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe/Public domain

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Source: PAP