Emilia Malessa

Emilia Malessa, née Izdebska (noms de guerre: Marcysia, Miłasza, Maniuta; 26 February 1909 in Rostov – 5 June 1949), was a Polish soldier, member of the Home Army with the rank of Captain, participant in the Warsaw Uprising, member of the underground anti-communist organization Freedom and Independence (WiN), and a "cavalier" of the Order of Virtuti Militari. who had managed to penetrate the organization's ranks.

During the interrogations that followed her arrest, she trusted the "officer's word of honor" given by the UB chief Józef Różański that if she revealed the command and structure of Freedom and Independence, none of the persons she mentioned would be arrested, and further persecution directed at former AK soldiers stopped. Her efforts were unsuccessful; more and more WiN soldiers were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms or death.

Death Shunned by the remains of the anti-communist underground, Malessa committed suicide on 5 June 1949. She was initially buried at Brodnowski Cemetery in Warsaw. On 19 September 2005, her body was exhumed and after a Mass, the urn with her remains was re-buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery.