Elizabeth B. White – författare & böcker

Counterfeit Countess

The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles during the Holocaust

Ljudbok

Engelska, 2024

382 kr

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The “remarkable…inspiring” (The Wall Street Journal) true 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who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat—drawing on Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir.World War II and the Holocaust have given rise to many stories of resistance and rescue, but The Counterfeit Countess is unique.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 astonishing unknown story of “Countess Janina Suchodolska,” a Jewish woman who rescued more than 10,000 Poles imprisoned by Poland’s Nazi occupiers, becoming “a heroine for the ages” (Larry Loftis, author of The Watchmaker’s Daughter). 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 in 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 Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir supplemented with prodigious research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, professional historians and Holocaust experts, have uncovered the full story of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. Like The Light of Days, Schindler’s List, and Irena’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is a “riveting…stunning” (Debbie Cenziper, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of Citizen 865) account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.

The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust

AvElizabeth B. White,Joanna Sliwa

Inbunden, Engelska, 2024

352 kr

Skickas inom 3-6 vardagar

The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust

AvElizabeth B. White,Joanna Sliwa

Häftad, Engelska, 2025

269 kr

Skickas inom 3-6 vardagar

Counterfeit Countess

The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust

AvJoanna Sliwa,Elizabeth B. White

E-bok

Engelska, 2024

195 kr

Läs direkt efter köp

The “remarkable…inspiring” (The Wall Street Journal) true 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 astonishing unknown story of “Countess Janina Suchodolska,” a Jewish woman who rescued more than 10,000 Poles imprisoned by Poland’s Nazi occupiers, becoming “a heroine for the ages” (Larry Loftis, author of The Watchmaker’s Daughter). 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 in 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. Like The Light of Days, Schindler’s List, and Irena’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is a “riveting…stunning” (Debbie Cenziper, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of Citizen 865) account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.

Huijarikreivitär

AvElizabeth B. White,Joanna Sliwa

E-bok

Finska, 2025

224 kr

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Uskomaton tositarina juutalaisnaisesta, joka pelasti tuhansia natsien keskitysleireiltä.

Puolanjuutalaista Janina Mehlbergiä ei ole aiheetta verrattu Oskar Schindleriin. Hän esiintyi natsiviranomaisille puolalaisena kreivitär Janina Suchodolskana ja hyvinvointineuvoston johtajana ja onnistui pelastamaan jopa kymmenentuhatta puolalaista.

Janina Mehlberg saapui Madjanekin keskitysleirille lähes päivittäin taivuttelemaan natsiviranomaisia antamaan lisää myönnytyksiä, enemmän ruokaa ja lääkkeitä vangeille. Hän neuvotteli myös tuhansien puolalaisten vapauttamisesta.

Huijarikreivittären toiminta ei jäänyt huomaamatta myöskään Gestapolta, joka tarkkaili ja uhkaili häntä.

Sodan jälkeen Mehlberg loikkasi miehensä kanssa Amerikkaan, missä hän työskenteli matematiikan professorina. Hän kuoli vuonna 1969.

Huijarikreivitär perustuu Mehlbergin omiin sodan ajan muistelmiin. Kirjoittajat täydensivät ja taustoittivat hänen elämäkertansa.

PhD Elizabeth "Barry" White on työskennellyt mm. Yhdysvaltojen Holocaust Memorial Museumin tutkimusjohtajana sekä oikeusministeriössä natsirikollisten ja muiden ihmisoikeusloukkausten tutkinnassa.

Historioitsija, PhD Joanna Sliwa on työskennellyt mm. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committeessa ja Museum of Jewish Heritage -museossa. Hänen teoksensa Jewish Childhood in Kraków voitti Ernst Fraenkel palkinnon vuonna 2020.

Huijarikreivitär

AvElizabeth B. White,Joanna Sliwa

Ljudbok

Finska, 2025

248 kr