There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad-free.

Listen with Wondry Plus in the Wondry app.

As a member of NoisorPlus at noisor.com or in Apple Podcasts,

or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com.

Thank you. It's September 1st, 1944, in Nazi-occupied Warsaw five years into World War II.

Teresa Vilska, a young female liaison officer with the Polish Home Army, leads a group of 50 men through

the labyrinthine sewage system running beneath the city.

Teresa is in charge of taking them across town to a rendezvous point where the Polish Army

needs backup.

It's also her job to keep them orderly and silent, which is no easy feat.

Many of the men in the tunnels are not

trained soldiers. The majority are simply civilians who see now as the moment to rise up against

their German occupiers. They struggle to keep their cool in the underground. Frightened by the

eerie silence of their strange new surroundings, some begin to raise their voices.

One switches on a flashlight. Teresa flinches. She knows the smallest of sounds, the

briefest of lights, will alert the German soldiers above, and if found, they'll pay with their

lives. Teresa silences the soldiers around her, but some brush off her warnings and continue

their nervous conversation. Teresa grabs one man by the collar and tells him she'll shoot him

dead if he makes another sound. The threat is a bluff. She isn't even armed, but the soldiers

don't know that. The men finally fall silent and just in time.

Above them is an open manhole guarded by two German soldiers.

Teresa holds her breath as she silently shuffles through the tunnel

...