Nurses at front lines
In many publications we present life of Polish nurses, connected with Poland’s history, interwoven with many wars and risings. Religious convents, charity organizations, and Polish manors had been the most devoted and dedicated in caring for the sick, injured and those in need until the professional nursing emerged. Nurses took part in the World War I and II, fighting for independence and against the aggressors, cared for the victims of the Silesian risings (1919-1921).
They were active in resistance, accompanied Polish soldiers at all fronts, fought for human lives within the 1st and 2nd Polish Army in Romania, Hungary, on the way to Persia, Iraq, and Africa. They reached also “the inhuman land” – Siberia.
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Many of them died in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. They cared for sick and injured soldiers of the Tadeusz Kościuszko 1st Infantry Division. Very often they were imprisoned in concentration camps.
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| Zofia Bittenek | Stanisława Leszczyńska | Wanda Ossowska |
Polish nurses worked beyond them in medical battalions, military hospitals, in tents, temporary adapted buildings or military trains, in health or life hazardous conditions. Always concerned for quality of care.
Polish nurses organized trainings for girls in first aid, asepsis, and work at the operational theaters or ambulatories.
After the World War II they took part in country and profession renovation, have always participated in international military missions. They have organized education and professional development for nurses and midwives, developed legal rules, established nursing organizations.
Elaborated by Krystyna Wolska-Lipiec
