A GEM FROM A CLASSIC WORK: WOMEN IN THE UNDERGROUND

Special to El Rrun-Rrun 

(Ed.'s Note: Once in a while you come across some splendid and insightful gems in classic works from the past. Just recently we were introduced to Jan Karski's "My Report to the World; Story of a Secret State," written by a courier of the Polish Underground while Poland was under German occupation. Although Karski had been captured by the Gestapo,

tortured, and then rescued and was considered and admired world-wide as a tough, disciplined resistance fighter for his country and a protector of  his fellow Jewish Poles, he penned his admiration for the Polish women who also carried out Underground work. We quote from his book.)

"They were perfectly adapted to Underground work. Indeed, I should say that despite the world-wide opinion that women are loquacious and indiscreet, my own experience has led me to believe that women on the whole make better conspiratorial workers than men.

"There are certain things they cannot do as well, but they make up for this in possessing to a higher degree the fundamental attributes of successful Underground workers. They are quicker to perceive danger and less inclined to avoid thinking about misfortunes than men. They are indubitably superior at being inconspicuous and generally display much caution, discretion, and common sense. 

"The average woman who takes up secret political work evinces much more "Underground common sense" than the average man. Men are often prone to exaggeration and bluff, are unwilling to face reality, and, in most cases, are subconsciously inclined to surround themselves with an air of mystery that sooner or later proves fatal...

"The liaison women suffered more than the majority of their sex, but the war worked untold hardships on all the women of Poland. For the mothers, daughters, and wives of the men in the Underground, misery was their daily lot. If they did not actively participate themselves, then their torment was all the greater because, not having any way of gauging danger or sensing the approach of tragedy, they expected it constantly and never knew a minute's peace.

"If the wife of a Underground lived under her true name and her husband was found out, she usually was arrested along with him. Very often, even though she had taken no part in the work, she was tortured and an attempt was made to pry loose from her secrets that they had been unable to get from her husband. Usually, the women could not satisfy the Gestapo even had they wanted to, for they simply knew nothing. They died involuntary martyrs, unfortunate women who happened to be the wives of good, courageous men."