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The Counterfeit Countess by Elizabeth White (Hardback)
£18.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781789467468
Published:
25 Jan 2024
Format:
Hardback
Number of pages:
336 pages
Dimensions:
240x162x32mm
Weight:
0.571kgs
Author:
We are all too familiar with the stories of Jews who were tortured and killed in concentration camps throughout the Third Reich. But less is known about the persecution of Polish prisoners housed in Majdanek, a concentration and extermination camp on the outskirts of the city of Lublin in south-eastern Poland. 'The Counterfeit Countess' tells this story through the lens of the efforts of one remarkable woman, herself a Jew, who passed as Polish aristocracy, became a lead official in a Polish relief organisation and an officer in the underground resistance movement known as the Polish Home Army. Using the false identity of Countess Janina Suchodolska, Josephine Janina Mehlberg persuaded the SS and other Nazi authorities to give her access to prisoners, bringing them soup, clothing, medicine and tending to their needs, and on many occasions having them freed from the camp.
'Powerful. . . . A heart-wrenching profile of resilience, ingenuity, and heroism.' Publisher's Weekly
'A story of courage, compassion, and cunning so profound that it must be included with the greatest Holocaust literature. Janina Mehlberg is a heroine for the ages.' - Larry Loftis, New York Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker's Daughter
The Holocaust has given rise to many accounts of resistance and rescue, but The Counterfeit Countess is unique. It tells the remarkable, untold story of 'Countess Janina Suchodolska', a Jewish woman named Janina Mehlberg who rescued more than 10,000 Poles imprisoned by their country's Nazi occupiers.
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. Incredibly, she eluded detection, survived the war and eventually emigrated to the USA. Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg's own unpublished memoir, supplemented with prodigious research, , historians and Holocaust experts Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa have uncovered the full story of this extraordinary woman.
Unsparing yet inspiring, The Counterfeit Countess is an unforgettable account of selfless courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty, and a major addition to the history of the Holocaust.
About the Author: Dr Elizabeth 'Barry' White recently retiredfrom the United States Holocaust MemorialMuseum, where she served as historian and asResearch Director for the museum's Center forthe Prevention of Genocide. Prior to workingfor the USHMM, Barry spent a career at the USDepartment of Justice working on investigationsand prosecutions of Nazi criminals and otherhuman-rights violators. She served as deputydirector and chief historian of the Office ofSpecial Investigations and as deputy chief andchief historian of the Human Rights and SpecialProsecutions Section. She lives in Falls Church,Virginia.
| Number of pages | 336 |
|---|
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| EU | £15.00 | £30.00 |
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| Rest of the World | £45.00 | £60.00 |
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