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At the beginning of October, pupils and staff attended two events as guests of the
On Sunday Hurst pupils sat in awe as Clare Mulley brought to life the amazing war career of indomitable Polish resistance fighter El偶bieta Zawacka. Agent Zo, as she was called, was a courier, carrying secret documents out of Nazi-occupied Poland, sometimes to Berlin itself. She led a charmed life, evading the Gestapo multiple times, even jumping from a moving train on one occasion. She was the only Polish female paratrooper and parachuted into occupied Poland in a dress! A powerful feminist advocate, Zawacka never stopped championing the role of women and continued to collect stories of women鈥檚 resistance during the war to throw light on this mostly hidden part of history, which really resonated with our pupils. Georgie was bowled over by what she managed to accomplish and asked whether Zo had spoken the languages of all the countries she travelled through fluently. Mulley explained that she took a crash course in the language before she travelled to a country so that whilst she wasn鈥檛 fluent in all languages she could converse with people. Emily said that the talk made her want to learn about more female-focused history in her A Levels. The pupils all left the hall humbled by Zawacka鈥檚 achievements.
Overall it was another successful bookfest for Hurst.
