Warsaw Uprising veteran Irena Paśnik dies at 100

Irena Paśnik, known as “Irka”, died at age 100 after a brief illness. She had been a 19‑year‑old sanitariik and messenger for the Baszta battalion during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, operating in Sadyba, Czerniaków and Mokotów. She was awarded the Cross of the Home Army, the Warsaw Uprising Cross and other veteran honours.

The death was announced by Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who wrote on social media, “Pani Ireno, stolica zawsze będzie Pani wdzięczna. Zawsze będziemy o Pani pamiętać.” Paśnik, born 4 October 1925, had spent decades preserving the memory of the uprising through interviews and archival work. She would have turned 101 in October 2026.