Anna Smoleńska



Anna Smoleńska (February 28, 1920 in Warsaw – March 19, 1943 in Auschwitz-Birkenau), pseudonym "Hania", Polish student of art history at the University of Warsaw, author of the symbol of Fighting Poland during World War II, girl scout Gray Ranks.

Life
She was the daughter of Kazimierz Smoleński, a professor of chemistry at the Warsaw University of Technology. The Smoleński family lived in the so-called House of Professors, which is part of the University of Technology's building complex at Koszykowa street 75.

In 1938 she graduated from the Juliusz Słowacki Junior High School in Warsaw. She began studying art history at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Warsaw. During the German occupation, she studied at the Municipal Horticultural and Agricultural School at Opaczewska Street in Warsaw, where secret education was conducted in Polish. She completed a conspiracy communications course, and was a participant in the "Wawer" Minor sabotage. She looked after the families of the arrested and provided them with secret messages from Nazi Pawiak prison. She belonged to "Kuźnica Harcerska".

In 1942 she was a liaison at the Propaganda Department of the Bureau of Information and Propaganda ("BIP") of the General Headquarters of the Union of Armed Struggle - the Home Army ("ZWZ-AK"). In 1942 she won the competition of the Bureau of Information and Propaganda for the sign of the Polish Underground State - anchor project - the symbol of Fighting Poland.

Arrest
She was the liaison of Maria Straszewska, the editorial secretary of the "Information Bulletin" (in Polish: "Biuletyn Informacyjny"). The Germans tried to arrest the editor-in-chief of the "Information Bulletin" Aleksander Kamiński and the editorial secretary Maria Straszewska, but failed. However, on November 3, 1942, the Gestapo arrested Anna Smoleńska, her parents, sister and brother with his wife.

Death at Auschwitz
After being imprisoned in Pawiak, she did not give anyone away, despite the heavy investigation. Smoleńska was later taken from Pawiak on November 26, 1942, to Auschwitz concentration camp, where she was given camp number 26008. She died of typhus, and three of her family members were killed in Auschwitz. Her father, after a hard investigation, was shot by the Gestapo in the ruins of the ghetto on May 7, 1943.

Commemoration
In 1998, a commemorative plaque was unveiled, dedicated to the scouts: Anna Smoleńska and Tadeusz Zawadzki. The plaque was placed on the side wall of the "House of Professors" of the Warsaw University of Technology at Koszykowa 75 street in Warsaw.