Join us for an online book launch of Heroines of the Holocaust: Reframing Resistance and Courage in Genocide. The co-editors, Prof. Lori Weintrob and Prof. Judy Baumel-Schwartz, will give a brief introduction to the book, which brings together international scholars to explore new perspectives on women’s rescue and resistance during the Holocaust, as well as the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and genocide in Armenia . In addition, two contributing authors, both descendants of Holocaust survivors, will speak about their respective chapters.

Dr Daniela Ozacky Stern will highlight the often-overlooked stories of Jewish women partisans during the Holocaust, focusing on the personal narrative of Chaya Shapira Lazar. Through her grandmother’s journey from the Vilna Ghetto to the partisan forests, Daniela sheds light on the unique challenges faced by female resistance fighters, who had to navigate traditional gender roles alongside revolutionary combat responsibilities.

Dr Steven Meed, son of Vladka Meed (née Feyge Peltel), will speak about his mother’s extraordinary wartime activities. An 18-year-old member of the Bund youth organisation SKIF in Warsaw at the time of the German invasion in 1939, she was quickly recognised for her fearlessness, resourcefulness, perfect Polish, and remarkable memory. These qualities led to her undertaking increasingly dangerous missions, particularly on the Aryan side. After Liberation, she continued to speak and write—initially in Yiddish—about her experiences, bearing witness on behalf of those who perished and those who survived, and reminding the world of the respect owed to both.

This programme is held in partnership with the Wagner College Holocaust Centre, the Arnold and Leona Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research at Bar-Ilan University, Remember the Women Institute, the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, Classrooms Without Borders, and the Rabin Chair Forum.