Danuta Smoszewska “Sawo” was born on 22 August 1922 in Warsaw. Before the war, she was a schoolgirl and a scout with the 19th Emilia Plater troop at Praga district. In September 1939, she was receiving dispatches from soldiers in the Telecommunications and Telegraph building on Nowogrodzka Street. She joined the underground in October 1942 and held sanitary and military training. During the Uprising, Smoszewska served as a paramedic and courier, first at the Powiśle Power Plant building, and then from 6 August, with the Władysław Sikorski Regiment of National Armed Forces in “Technician’s House” at 3\5 Czackiego Street. She took part in several actions, including the capture of the Holy Cross Church and Police Headquarters on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. On 11 August, she received heavy burns, and was taken to a field hospital set up in the Communal Savings Bank building on the corner of Traugutta and Czackiego Streets. On 5 October, she left the city as part of the civilian evacuation. She was to be transferred to Auschwitz via a transit camp in Pruszków. She and her mother escaped from a train on 13 October and reached Zakopane. In March 1945, Smoszewska returned to Warsaw, graduating from the Warsaw School of Economics later that year. She worked for the National Economy Bank (BGK), Municipal Waterworks and Sewer Enterprise and Institute of Mechanized Construction. She was repeatedly detained for her Uprising activity. Smoszewska died on 1 September 1996 in Warsaw.
