Grazynas’ Strike

Of all literary heroines Grazyna, the heroine of Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz’s eponymous classic is, perhaps the greatest feminist. What a shame that her name is under attack in this “me too” moment of the women’s movement. In Mickiewicz’s epic Grazyna dons the armour of her husband Rymwyd and takes up arms against the invading Teutonic Knights in a battle certain to be lost, but after her death in battle she turns the tables on the enemy when the identity of the knight in armour is revealed to be a woman. A new generation of Polish women that honours the tradition of Grazyna is taking into their hands the reins of today’s movement. Now more than ever women everywhere are saying no to subjugation at the hands of their communities. Shame on men and women who demean the name of Poland’s bravest female.