Originally published on December 16, 2024 at 9:33 AM (Episode 388)
Introduction
Elżbieta Zawacka—known by her codename “Zo”—was a teacher, soldier, courier, resistance fighter, special operations paratrooper, Warsaw Uprising veteran, and political prisoner. She was also the only woman to parachute into Poland during the Second World War as part of the Polish “Silent Unseen.”
Following the war, she was imprisoned and tortured by the Polish Communist government. Since the Communist government wished to ignore or destroy the history of Poland’s non-communist resistance to Nazi Germany, she began to compile a secret archive of Polish resistance as an act of resistance as well as scholarship.
About the Guest
Clare Mulley is the author of several biographies of women in wartime, including The Spy Who Loved and The Women Who Flew for Hitler. Her most recent book is Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter (Pegasus, 2024).
For Further Investigation
Clare Mulley, Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter (Pegasus, 2024)
—, The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville (St. Martin’s, 2014)
—, The Women Who Flew for Hitler: A True Story of Soaring Ambition and Searing Rivalry (St. Martin’s, 2017)
Cichociemni—the Silent Unseen special operations group (Or, “silentlydark”, if you’re a Polish-fluent stickler); and another one
Related Episodes
“The Forgers”—Roger Moorhouse describes a Polish operation to save Jews from the Holocaust
“Founder of Modern Poland”—for some context on the years from 1900 to the middle of the 1930s
Listen & Discuss
Could you parachute into Nazi-occupied Europe? Share this episode with someone who loves stories of extraordinary courage.
