Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz

Who was Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz?

Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz code name “Alinka"” or “Alicja”, was a leading figure in Warsaw's underground resistance movement throughout the years of German occupation during World War II in Poland. As the well-connected wife of a former ambassador to Washington, she used her contacts with both the military and political leadership of the Polish Underground to materially influence the underground's policy of aiding Poland's Jewish population during the war.

Early on, Krahelska-Filipowicz used her influence to persuade the Government in Exile, including members of the Delegatura and its military counterpart, the AK, of the importance of setting up a central organization to help Poland's Jews, and to back the policy with significant funding.

Krahelska-Filipowicz also personally sheltered Jewish individuals in her own home early during the German occupation. Among the refugees was the widow of the Jewish historian Szymon Aszkenazy.

A Catholic Socialist activist and a devout Democrat, she was the editor of the Polish art magazine "Arkady".