Hanna Nowakowska , née Ciszewska

born August 3, 1952 in Warsaw

Philologist, project coordinator member of the Program Council of the Brandenburg Memorial Foundation

Daughter of Janina Ciszewska, née Buszkowska, born on May 25, 1922 (Ludwikovo) - May 1, 2014 and the granddaughter of Władysława Buszkowska born on March 3, 1902 - April 12, 1978

both were deported to Ravensbrück during the Warsaw Uprising, Ravensbrück: 09/08/1944 - April 1945

Vice President of the IRK

Hanna Nowakowska, Foto: privat
Hanna Nowakowska, Foto: privat

Hanna Nowakowska was born on August 3, 1952 in Warsaw. After graduating from high school, she studied philology at the University of Warsaw.

During the Warsaw Uprising (August 1 - October 3, 1944), her mother and grandmother - like thousands of other residents of Warsaw - were deported to Ravensbrück via Dulag in Pruszków. They both survived and returned to Poland. Hanna's father took an active part in the Warsaw Uprising, therefore he was arrested and taken to Auschwitz. He also survived and worked as an engineer in Warsaw after the war.

After graduation, Hanna Nowakowska worked in a company dealing with foreign trade, and then as part of the World Bank program in an office dealing with global health projects.

She is the president (chairman) of the Polish Club of Ravensbrück Survivors, vice-president of ICR, and since June 3, 2019, a member of the Program Council of the Brandenburg Memorial Foundation.

She was the coordinator of many projects for intergenerational solidarity in the Ravensbrück extermination camp: "Drama about Ravensbrück", "Save from oblivion - Ravensbrück", "Intergenerational meetings - Ravensbrück" and so on.

Hanna is the editor and publisher of a book with memories of women who survived Ravensbrück. The title of the book is "Recovering from oblivion - my memories of Ravensbrück". In 2015, together with the surviving women from Ravensbrück, Hanna took part in a project with two Warsaw high schools: a comic book and a mural about the history of women from Ravensbrück were created under the supervision of art experts.

Hanna Nowakowska is a co-founder (2003) and president of the Foundation for Women's Affairs in Poland, her goal is to promote / help older women in their lives in Poland, she is also a co-founder and editor-in-chief of the websites: http://www.ravensbruck.pl / and www.kobieta50plus.pl

She works in the JA KOBIETA Foundation for Women and is an active member of Age Platform Europe, see the interview with Hanna Nowakowska: https://www.age-platform.eu/age-member-news/memory-brave-women-building-bridges- the symbolic past of Europe.

Hanna Nowakowska is a co-founder (2015) and president of the Cultura Memoriae Foundation, www.culturamemoriae.pl

In 2005 and 2008, she was selected as the coordinator of FORUM 50+, the first Polish network of organizations working with the elderly and for the elderly, and was a member of the expert group in connection with the implementation of the first in Poland opinion poll on "Discrimination of elderly people in Poland (2005 / 2006) ". She participated in discussions related to the draft act on counteracting discrimination.

She was a member of the group of experts at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and participated as an expert on discussions in connection with strategic reports on the situation in Poland in the field of social security and integration in 2008-2010, she was a member of the regulatory committee under the operational program "Improving competitiveness companies in the years: 2004–2006, 2006–2008 ”and is a member of the Polish Society of Gerontology, Mazowsze section.

Publications and lectures: "Socio-economic context of women's successes" (co-author), "Voice of the elderly. Strength of the Future "(co-author), Older Women in Poland - Health and Work" (author), "Save from oblivion - Ravensbrück" (co-author).

As an expert in the field of discrimination against the elderly, she participated in the preparation of the report "Intellectual capital of the Polish population" commissioned by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (July 2008).