Transgression, Struggle, and Scandal

Abstract

This article analyzes the lives of a handful of women, who, after years of involvement in various military conflicts (from World War I to World War II), were sentenced to long prison sentences. Particularly, it explores the lives of Anna Neuman, Irena Tomalakwa, Elżbieta Zawacka, and Emilia Malessa from the perspective of the concept “postawa” which most of them acquired in the early years of their life while soldiering (postawa as a concept related to discipline). They understood it as a stand that they would take throughout their entire life. Hence, postawa was more than a social role. It was an attitude, something that they had to achieve throughout their lives, finally also something that guaranteed continuity in their lives. Their imprisonment fit the definition of postawa well and provided them with a chance to define their actions not as heroic acts of Polish patriots, but rather as an attitude to which they were socialized. Through the biographic history of these women, the Polish history of gender can be seen as dynamic (as dynamic as their postawa allowed them to be). In that sense, postawa may be treated almost as a quintessential transgression, which, depending on the situation, can be seen as a phenomenon that helps them cross many boundaries or adapt to circumstances. Paradoxically, it helps them define their space outside of narrowly defined terms of patriotism, heroism, or martyrology, but ultimately giving them a voice as Polish patriots.