BIOGRAPHY

Czesława Łasiewicz was born in Radziłów, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, on 14 January 1907.

Her husband, Władysław, had been a policeman before World War II and joined the army in 1939. During that time, the Germans were seeking Poles to serve in their forces, and as a result, he was selected by the unit command to serve in the gendarmerie. Her husband was an undercover member of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) and throughout the war, he informed his comrades about the enemy’s movements. Near the end of the war, a staged kidnapping of the agent was arranged due to concerns for his safety. In UB (Security Office) Prisons, Władysław hid for several years because, after the war, the Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (Security Office) was searching for him. They conducted searches, and tried to arrest his family, and in 1952, they secretly arrested him. He was taken to prison in Białystok, then to Sieradz and Warsaw. According to the family, he was beaten and mistreated, and released after two years, permanently harmed by the experience. In the 1970s, he was rehabilitated, but he passed away in 1977, aged 73.

She had at least three children—two daughters and a son. According to her daughter, she bore the responsibility of supporting the family alone. Weaving—creating carpets, bedspreads, and kilims—was both her great passion and the primary source of income for their education. In 1969, she moved to Mońki in the Podlaskie Voivodeship.

At the age of 100, she lived under the care of her daughter and son-in-law, Marta and Franciszek Zawadzki. It was reported that she no longer spoke much.

Czesława Łasiewicz passed away in Mońki, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, on 29 May 2018, at the age of 111 years, 135 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Życie utkane dramatami” – Gazeta Współczesna, 18 January 2007

* Czesława Łasiewicz – eCmentarze

GALLERY