Wanda Traczyk-Stawska, a Polish psychologist, social activist and Warsaw Uprising veteran also known as “Pączek” and “Atma,” died on Aug. 18, 2026, at 99, Interia Wydarzenia reported.
As a teenager during the German occupation, Traczyk-Stawska gathered intelligence about German troops for the Polish underground and took part in small-scale sabotage. As a member of the underground Gray Ranks, she also distributed the clandestine Biuletyn Informacyjny and delivered warning letters to Germans as part of Action N.
During the Warsaw Uprising, she served as an armed fighter and courier, helping protect the underground’s military publishing operation. She was seriously wounded on Smolna Street on Sept. 6, 1944, and became a prisoner of war after the uprising’s capitulation.
After captivity, she returned to Poland in 1947, completed psychology studies at the University of Warsaw and worked for many years as a teacher.
For more than 80 years, she searched for Warsaw Uprising graves and worked to secure recognition and care for the Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery. Her efforts helped create the Memory Chamber at the cemetery, and she helped establish Oct. 2 as a remembrance day for Warsaw’s civilian population during the uprising. On April 15, 2026, the Polish education minister presented her with the Medal of the Commission of National Education for special contributions to education and upbringing.
