Kaia, Heroine of the 1944 Warsaw Rising tells the story of one woman,
whose life encompasses a century of Polish history. Full of tragic and
compelling experiences such as life in Siberia, Warsaw before World War
II, the German occupation, the Warsaw Rising, and life in the Soviet
Ostashkov prison, Kaia was deeply involved with the battle that
decimated Warsaw in 1944 as a member of the resistance army and the
rebuilding of the city as an architect years later. Kaia's father was
expelled from Poland for conspiring against the Russian czar. She spent
her early childhood near Altaj Mountain and remembered Siberia as a
"paradise". In 1922, the family returned to free Poland, the train trip
taking a year. Kaia entered the school system, studied architecture, and
joined the Armia Krajowa in 1942. After the legendary partisan Hubal's
death, a courier gave Kaia the famous leader's Virtuti Militari Award to
protect. She carried the medal for 54 years. After the Warsaw Rising
collapsed, she was captured by the Russian NKVD in Bialystok and
imprisoned. In one of many interrogations, a Russian asked about Hubal's
award. When Kaia replied that it was a religious relic from her father,
she received only a puzzled look from the interrogator. Knowing that
another interrogation could end differently, she hid the award in the
heel of her shoe where it was never discovered. In 1946, Kaia, very ill
and weighing only 84 pounds, returned to Poland, where she regained her
health and later worked as an architect to the rebuild the totally
decimated Warsaw.
