Maria the Panther presents the story of the authors grandmother, Maria, whowas a strong professional woman well ahead of her times. At the same time, herbiography provides a sweeping overview of the history of twentieth-century Europe,transcending cultures.Grandma Maria was born in 1902 in Warsaw, which at that time was part of theRussian Empire. She died in 1992 at the age of eighty-nine, in a free Poland. Shesurvived World War I and cheated death at least four times during World War II.She was arrested by the Soviet NKVD (later known as the KGB). As private in theHome Army (serial number 202), she fought the Nazis in the Resistance and theWarsaw Uprising.She was taken to a Nazi concentration camp and later worked at a labor camp inBerlin. There she gained a nicknameThe Pantherfor her resourcefulnessand courage. She survived the carpet bombing of Berlin. In the late 1940s, ata time when most women were confined to domestic duties, she became thepresident of a bank. Years later she joined the free Solidarity trade union. Shelived to see the fall of the Berlin Wall and to participate in free elections in hernative Poland.
