Warsaw bids farewell to Uprising veteran Wanda Traczyk-Stawska in multifaith funeral

Funeral services in central Warsaw

On 31 August 2026, Warsaw held funeral ceremonies for Wanda Traczyk-Stawska, a 1944 Warsaw Uprising veteran, educator, and social activist who died on 18 August 2026 at age 99. The farewell began at 13:30 with a funeral Mass at the Holy Cross Basilica on Krakowskie Przedmieście. Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz led the service, with Warsaw Metropolitan Archbishop Adrian Galbas delivering the homily before a congregation of relatives, soldiers, scouts, and state officials. Dignitaries present included Senate Marshal Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Senate Deputy Marshal Magdalena Biejat, Minister of Culture Marta Cienkowska, presidential minister Wojciech Kolarski, and Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.

In his address, Trzaskowski noted her connection with people across generations.

Mrs. Wanda had something amazing about her, because she was close to those who knew her well and had the honor of meeting and talking with her for many years, but she was also close to those she met only once, and she was close to those she never met who only observed her life.

Inter-religious burial at Wola cemetery

Following the Mass, a funeral procession moved to the Evangelical-Augsburg Cemetery on Młynarska Street in Wola. The burial took place with military honours and a gun salute at the family grave. Clergy from five religious traditions gathered at the gravesite: a Catholic priest, a rabbi, an imam, an Orthodox cleric, and an Evangelical cleric. The multifaith attendance reflected her long advocacy for human dignity and vulnerable communities.

At the gravesite, her son Paweł spoke about her role within the family.

My mother was an exceptional person, an exceptional mother and grandmother. She always filled our home. Her readiness to help and her care were beyond description. I did not always understand where she found that strength, but she found it. She held us together.

Wartime service and post-war advocacy

Born in Warsaw on 7 April 1927, Traczyk-Stawska joined the Szary Szeregów in 1942, distributing underground leaflets and delivering death sentences issued by the Polish Underground State against collaborators. During the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, she served as a 17-year-old liaison and gunner in Śródmieście and Powiśle under the pseudonyms "Pączek" and "Atma", fighting at the Holy Cross Church before being wounded in September and held in a German prisoner-of-war camp.

After the war, she studied psychology at the University of Warsaw, worked as a teacher for disabled children, and supported 1980s opposition activists. She led decades of work to protect the Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery in Wola and received the title of Honorary Citizen of Warsaw in 2017.

Evening commemoration on Plac Krasińskich

At 19:00, Warsaw residents gathered at Plac Krasińskich by the Warsaw Uprising Monument for an open memorial organized by Fundacja Aktywna Demokracja. Citizens lit candles and signed a memorial book before a screening of the documentary film "Wanda. Ostatnia z oddziału".

Earlier at the basilica, Archbishop Adrian Galbas described her personal integrity.

Mrs. Wanda wore no masks, held no conformist views tailored for different occasions, and did not tell everyone what they wanted to hear. She did not perform for an audience. She simply was herself. She had one face with which she could always look honestly in the mirror. That is a luxury and a comfort that many can only dream of.