Walentyna Janta-Polczynska was a member of the Polish government in exile during World War II, whose translation skills were crucial to the war effort as she prepared intelligence reports and broadcast to fellow Poles on an underground radio station.
- Died: April 2, 2020 (Who else died on April 2?)
- Details of death: Died at a hospital in Queens, New York at the age of 107.
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War heroine and beloved hostess
Janta-Polczynska was attending school in England when Poland was invaded in 1939. Her English skills became crucial to the resistance, as she helped found the underground radio station Dawn that broadcast from England to Poland. She was one of its first announcers. Janta-Polczynska became the personal secretary to the Polish prime minister, amd she also translated and prepared reports of the inhuman treatment of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, which were key to Polish wartime intelligence. After the war, Janta-Polczynska immigrated to New York, where she and her husband, journalist and poet Aleksander Janta-Polczynska, became a key part of the Polish emigre community. Their home was a centerpiece of the community, a popular spot for gatherings. Janta-Polczynska became known as the “First Lady of Polish-Americans.”
What people said about her
Full obituary: The New York Times
