This is the story of my grandmother. I hope it will be of interest to many. I think it transcends boundaries and cultures.
My grandma Maria was born in 1902 in Warsaw, at that time part of the Russian empire. She died in 1992 at the age of eighty-nine in free Poland. She survived WWI. She cheated death at least four times during WWII. She was arrested by the Soviet NKVD (later known as the KGB). As private, serial number 202, Home Army, she fought the Nazis in the Resistance and the Warsaw Uprising.
She was taken to a Nazi concentration camp and later worked at a labor camp in Berlin. There she gained a nickname, "The Panther", for her resourcefulness and courage.
She survived the carpet bombing of Berlin.
In the late 1940s, at a time when most women were confined to domestic duties, she became president of a bank.  read more...