Altman Tosia (Taube, Towa) (24 August 1918, Lipno – 26 May 1943?, Warsaw) – Zionist activist, a leader of HaShomer HaTzair, activist in the Jewish Combat Organisation (Polish: Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ŻOB) in the Warsaw ghetto, and fighter in the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
She was born in Lipno, to a wealthy Jewish family, the daughter of Gustaw Altman and Anna (Mania) née Gutkind. Her father was a watchmaker and eventually opened a jewelry shop in Włocławek. Both parents were in all likelihood born in 1886 in Włocławek. They were confined in the Żychlin and Warsaw ghettoes and murdered in Treblinka.
The Altmans, although from a Hasidic family, were progressive. Tosia was educated in Polish and also Hebrew, thanks to her father’s Zionist sympathies. She attended a Hebrew secondary school in Włocławek and joined HaShomer HaTzair at the age of eleven. She quickly became an instructor and in 1935 took part in the 4th World Convention of HaShomer HaTzair in Poland (today’s Slovakia). She joined a kibbutz in Częstochowa in 1938, in preparation for immigration to Palestine, but changed her plans after being appointed to the central command of HaShomer HaTzair in Warsaw.
Tosia was involved in the Jewish resistance movement in German-occupied Poland from the very beginning. She was part of the underground organization of HaShomer HaTzair, a member of ŻOB, and a courier – she was able to travel around occupied Poland thanks to her “Aryan” appearance (her fair hair) and fluency in Polish. She also cooperated with Arie Wilner, a liaison between ŻOB and the Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa). In 1941, she organized self-defense groups in the Vilna ghetto together with Lea Koziebrodzka. Between 1941 and 1942, she visited the ghettos in Grodno, Białystok, Częstochowa, and Zagłębie Dąbrowskie and drew up reports on the situation in each of them. On 7 April 1942, she sent her last letter to Palestine from Hrubieszów.
She took part in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. On 8 May 1943, she was in the bunker at 18 Miła Street, ŻOB’s headquarters, with Mordechai Anielewicz. After the German attack on the bunker, she managed to get out through the only undiscovered exit and reach the bunker at 22 Franciszkańska Street. On the night of 8/9 May, she left the ghetto through the sewers together with about 30 fighters, emerging at Prosta Street; they were led by Symcha Ratajzer alias Kazik. After being transported to Łomianki in a lorry, the group hid in the forests, intending to join the partisans.
After a few days, Tosia Altman returned to Warsaw with the other members of HaShomer HaTzair. She hid in the attic of Szymanowicz’s Christmas tree ornament factory, which has survived to this day; it was located in the courtyard of a tenement house at 10 Jedenastego Listopada Street. The same place had previously served many members of the resistance who were moving between ghettos in occupied Poland. Tosia gave her account of the pacification of the bunker on Miła Street to ŻOB member Helena Rufeisen.
On 24 May 1943, a dangerous fire broke out in the factory, killing eight people. It is believed the fire started accidentally with the ignition of ichthyol that Tosia Altman was melting down to make ointment for wounds. To escape the fire, she jumped out the window but was badly burned. The Blue Police detained her and then handed her over to the Germans. She was taken to hospital, where she died from the injuries sustained in the fire and possibly also after being tortured and refused proper medical assistance, probably on 26 May 1943.
In 1948, she was posthumously awarded the Silver Cross of the War Order of Virtuti Militari.
Bibliography
- H. Rufeisen-Schüpper, Pożegnanie Miłej 18. Wspomnienia łączniczki Żydowskiej Organizacji Bojowej, Kraków 1996.
- Z. Shalev, “Tosia Altman 1918–1943,” [in:] Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, Jewish Women’s Archive, [online:] 27.02.2009, https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/altman-tosia [accesed: 19 Feb 2020].
