The counterfeit countess : the Jewish woman who rescued thousands of Poles during the Holocaust
(Book)
Description
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Also in this Series
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Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Chisago Lakes Area Library - Current | B MEHLBERG | On holds shelf |
Sandstone Public Library - Current | B MEHLBERG | Checked Out |
Subjects
LC Subjects
Biographies.
Holocaust survivors -- United States -- Biography.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Poland.
Impostors and imposture -- Biography.
Jewish mathematicians -- Biography.
Jewish women -- Biography.
Mehlberg, Josephine Janina, -- 1905-1969.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue -- Poland.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Poland.
Holocaust survivors -- United States -- Biography.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Poland.
Impostors and imposture -- Biography.
Jewish mathematicians -- Biography.
Jewish women -- Biography.
Mehlberg, Josephine Janina, -- 1905-1969.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue -- Poland.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Poland.
More Details
Format
Book
Physical Desc
xxix, 305 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : black and white illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Language
English
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-290) and index.
Description
The astonishing story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg--a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat--drawing on Mehlberg's own unpublished memoir. World War II and the Holocaust have given rise to many stories of resistance and rescue, but The Counterfeit Countess is unique. It tells the remarkable, unknown story of "Countess Janina Suchodolska," a Jewish woman who rescued more than 10,000 Poles imprisoned by Poland's Nazi occupiers. Mehlberg operated in Lublin, Poland, headquarters of Aktion Reinhard, the SS operation that murdered 1.7 million Jews in occupied Poland. Using the identity papers of a Polish aristocrat, she worked as a welfare official while also serving in the Polish resistance. With guile, cajolery, and steely persistence, the "Countess" persuaded SS officials to release thousands of Poles from the Majdanek concentration camp. She won permission to deliver food and medicine--even decorated Christmas trees--for thousands more of the camp's prisoners. At the same time, she personally smuggled supplies and messages to resistance fighters imprisoned at Majdanek, where 63,000 Jews were murdered in gas chambers and shooting pits. Incredibly, she eluded detection, and ultimately survived the war and emigrated to the US. Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg's own unpublished memoir, supplemented with prodigious research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, professional historians and Holocaust experts, have uncovered the full story of this remarkable woman. They interweave Mehlberg's sometimes harrowing personal testimony with broader historical narrative.
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
White, E. B., & Sliwa, J. (2024). The counterfeit countess: the Jewish woman who rescued thousands of Poles during the Holocaust (First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.). Simon & Schuster.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)White, Elizabeth B. and Joanna, Sliwa. 2024. The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust. Simon & Schuster.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)White, Elizabeth B. and Joanna, Sliwa. The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust Simon & Schuster, 2024.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)White, Elizabeth B.,, and Joanna Sliwa. The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition., Simon & Schuster, 2024.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
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