Book & Author: The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto — The True Story of Five Courageous Young Women Who Sparked an Uprising 

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the most storied acts of resistance in Holocaust history. Yet for decades, nearly every account has centered on its male participants. The women who fought, smuggled weapons, and died alongside them have remained in shadow. Until now. 

In this instant New York Times bestseller, Holocaust historian Elizabeth R. Hyman restores five young Polish Jewish women to their rightful place in history. Known as “the girls” by resistance leadership and “bandits” by their Nazi oppressors, these courageous fighters served as commanders, couriers, and smugglers. Passing as Aryans, they moved freely between the ghetto and the outside world, ferrying weapons, dynamite, and intelligence past German checkpoints. When the uprising began on the first night of Passover 1943, they stood alongside the men, guns in hand. 

Drawing on memoirs, letters, and reminiscences, Hyman brings to life Zivia Lubetkin, the most senior woman on the Jewish Fighting Organization’s command staff; Vladka Meed, who smuggled explosives into the ghetto; Dr. Inka Blady-Schweiger, a young medical student turned reluctant angel of mercy; and Tosia Altman and Tema Schneiderman, couriers who did not survive. 

Join us for a conversation with Hyman about the women history overlooked and why their stories can no longer wait. 

A live Q&A and book signing will follow. 

Free to the public.

Registration required.