Janina Lewandowska before 1939, source: Public domain

Perhaps she would have become a pianist or singer? After all, she studied at the State Conservatory of Music in Poznań. Or perhaps she would have gone down in history as an ace of Polish aviation, which became her passion. However, Janina Antonina Lewandowska is remembered as the only woman among the victims of the Katyn Massacre.

She was born in Kharkiv on 22 April 1908. Her father was General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, who, among other things, took part in the defence of Lviv during the Polish-Bolshevik War. She had two brothers and a sister, Agnieszka (who was murdered by the Germans in June 1940 in Palmiry). Janina already had an unusual hobby in secondary school – aviation. She was a member of the Poznań Aviation Club, attended glider schools, and completed further flying courses. She also became a graduate of Poznań Pilot School. As a 20-year-old, she jumped with a parachute from 5,000 metres, the first woman in Europe to do so! She was athletic – she swam, rode horses and skied. On top of that, she enjoyed designing and sewing clothes!

In June 1939, she married Mieczysław Lewandowski, a pilot instructor, but in August of that year she was called up to the 3rd Air Force Regiment, stationed near Poznań. On 22 September, she was taken prisoner by the Soviets. She was detained in the camps at Ostashkov and Kozelsk, from where, on 20 April 1940, together with other prisoners of war, she was taken to the Katyn forest and murdered, most probably on 22 April. Lewandowska’s remains were excavated by the Germans in 1943.

Her skull, together with those of several others, was taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute in Wrocław. For several decades afterward , the remains were hidden by Prof. Bolesław Popielski. Janina’s skull was not identified until 2005. It was placed in a family tomb in Lusowo cemetery. Second Lieutenant Pilot Janina Lewandowska was not the only woman who died a Katyn, but she was the only female soldier who was executed there. Among the thousands of names of victims of the Katyn Massacre displayed on the illuminated metal plaques at the Sybir Memorial Museum, Janina Lewandowska’s name is also listed. The virtual light of remembrance for Janina Lewandowska can be lit on the website: http://www.katynpromemoria.pl