Wanda Pleszczyńska attended school in her hometown Lublin where she started studying Polish and also received a musical education. She later concentrated on art, and moved to Warszawa pursuing her musical training, and also taking up painting at the School of Painting and Drawing, and at the private school of Konrad Krzyżanowski, one of the early expressionists. Between 1923-30 Pleszczyńska attended the Warsaw School of Fine Arts studying, amongst others, under Olympians Tadeusz Pruszkowski and Władysław Skoczylas. Like him, she took part in the 1928 Olympic art competitions submitting a woodcut called Football. After graduation, she worked at various schools in Warszawa as a drawing teacher. During the occupation in World War II, she used pseudonyms and joined the ranks of the armed resistance. Eventually, she became the secretary to the head of 2nd Division of the Home Army, lieutenant colonel Szczekowski. When she was arrested in November 1943, Pleszczyńska was also imprisoned by the Germans. She was detained and tortured in the notorious Pawiak prison, and after one month in captivity, she was shot without having disclosed any information about the Polish resistance.
Poland