1. Major Wanda Gertz was a Polish woman of noble birth, who began her military career in the Polish Legion during World War I, dressed as a man, under the pseudonym of "Kazimierz 'Kazik' Zuchowicz".
13 Facts About Wanda Gertz
1. 2.
Wanda Gertz was awarded the highest Polish military honours, a singular rarity for any woman of her generation to achieve.
3.
Wanda Gertz then trained in Bookkeeping with the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce.
4.
Wanda Gertz distributed political leaflets and made clothes for prisoners of war.
5.
Wanda Gertz then joined the 4th Warsaw Battalion, but in August 1915 after the Battalion had been absorbed into the 1st Brigade of the Polish Legion, women were prohibited from serving on the front line.
6.
On 8 December 1917 during a demonstration in Saviour Square - in Warsaw, Wanda Gertz was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison, but having paid bail, she was released after a few weeks.
7.
In December 1918 Poland finally gained its independence, and Wanda Gertz joined the People's Militia, and was assigned to the Armaments Section in March 1919.
8.
In 1928 Wanda Gertz became one of the first 13 members of the Przysposobienie Wojskowe Kobiet where she served as an instructor.
9.
Wanda Gertz seems to have been sceptical about the planned Warsaw Uprising, and prohibited members of her group from taking part, though many did so anyway.
10.
Wanda Gertz was promoted to the rank of major in September 1944.
11.
Wanda Gertz passed through camps at Ozarow, Lamsdorf and Muhlberg, and finally in late 1944 arrived at Molsdorf, all the while retaining command and respect among her fellow POWs.
12.
Wanda Gertz travelled throughout Germany and Italy in search of displaced Polish women.
13.
Wanda Gertz's task was to prepare them for civilian life in Britain.