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The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust
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who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat—drawing on Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir.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Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir, supplemented with prodigious research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, professional historians and Holocaust experts, have uncovered the full story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. Like The Light of Days, Schindler’s List, and Irena’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is an unforgettable account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
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. Like The Light of Days, Schindler’s List, and Irena’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is an unforgettable account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 23, 2024
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July 4, 2024
The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust is an example of an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. It is the true story about Josephine Janina Mehlberg being given fake papers during the Holocaust. Her false identity is Countess Janina Suchodolska and she uses her guile, grit and influence to improve conditions for imprisoned Poles.
Elizabeth White and Joanna Silwa have done extensive research, including utilizing Mehlberg's unpublished memoir.
Elizabeth White and Joanna Silwa have done extensive research, including utilizing Mehlberg's unpublished memoir.
April 4, 2024
In 1939, twenty four year old Josephine Janina Mehlberg was a respected math teacher and lecturer at a girl’s school in Lwow, Poland. Her parents were wealthy Jewish landowners.
When the Nazis began arresting the Jews in Lwow, Janina, together with her husband, were aided by a family friend, Count Andrzej Skrzynski, who arranged for them to be given new identities and documentation. They then moved to Lublin. Janina became Countess Janina Suchodolska.
In Lublin, Janina worked as a welfare official while secretly participating in the Polish resistance. With sheer determination and perseverance, she confronted the Nazi administrators at the Majdanek concentration camp and was successful in persuading them to allow non-Jewish Polish political prisoners to receive small food parcels and medicines. Eventually she succeeded in obtaining the removal of Polish prisoners who were ill, thus saving thousands of lives. She did attract the attention of the Nazi officials and at one point narrowly evaded arrest.
Authors Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa not only write Janina’s story, but they also write about their efforts to verify Janina’s account. It’s so interesting to learn about the meticulous effort involved in documenting and bringing the story to light.
The Counterfeit Countess is yet another account of individual bravery and resistance work during World War II. It is so important that these accounts are made available now so that they will not be forgotten.
When the Nazis began arresting the Jews in Lwow, Janina, together with her husband, were aided by a family friend, Count Andrzej Skrzynski, who arranged for them to be given new identities and documentation. They then moved to Lublin. Janina became Countess Janina Suchodolska.
In Lublin, Janina worked as a welfare official while secretly participating in the Polish resistance. With sheer determination and perseverance, she confronted the Nazi administrators at the Majdanek concentration camp and was successful in persuading them to allow non-Jewish Polish political prisoners to receive small food parcels and medicines. Eventually she succeeded in obtaining the removal of Polish prisoners who were ill, thus saving thousands of lives. She did attract the attention of the Nazi officials and at one point narrowly evaded arrest.
Authors Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa not only write Janina’s story, but they also write about their efforts to verify Janina’s account. It’s so interesting to learn about the meticulous effort involved in documenting and bringing the story to light.
The Counterfeit Countess is yet another account of individual bravery and resistance work during World War II. It is so important that these accounts are made available now so that they will not be forgotten.
November 30, 2023
Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg was the best fraud ever. Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa tell her story in their book The Counterfeit Countess and it's nice to be rooting for the imposter. Mehlberg was a Polish Jew who during World War II became "Countess Janina Suchodolska" just to survive. However, she decided surviving wasn't enough and became a resistance member along with the boldest humanitarian I have ever read about. What made her bold? Well, she willing went to the nearby concentration camp and proceeded to manipulate every single Nazi she could to get food and medicine within the camp. A lot of books try to oversell what their main character accomplished. This is not one of those books.
I especially appreciated how White and Sliwa approached the story. They make it clear in the introduction to the book that much of this is pulled from Mehlberg's unpublished memoir, but nothing is taken at face value. There is a lot of scholarship and significant research to make this story both readable but also complete (and verified). There are portions of the book which lag a bit as there is a fair amount of paperwork wrangling or administrative arguments. These sections are short and the story inevitably picks up immediately after with Mehlberg descending into the lion's den of Nazis. This is a book that truly does justice to its subject.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Simon & Schuster.)
I especially appreciated how White and Sliwa approached the story. They make it clear in the introduction to the book that much of this is pulled from Mehlberg's unpublished memoir, but nothing is taken at face value. There is a lot of scholarship and significant research to make this story both readable but also complete (and verified). There are portions of the book which lag a bit as there is a fair amount of paperwork wrangling or administrative arguments. These sections are short and the story inevitably picks up immediately after with Mehlberg descending into the lion's den of Nazis. This is a book that truly does justice to its subject.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Simon & Schuster.)
March 27, 2024
A great throwback read.
I liked the strategies and plans that Dr Janina put in place to protect Jews in Poland from the Nazi. The scholar was truly innovative. A nice book.
I liked the strategies and plans that Dr Janina put in place to protect Jews in Poland from the Nazi. The scholar was truly innovative. A nice book.
December 24, 2023
The story of how one Jewish woman took on the Nazis, and came out the other side.
Much of what is written about Dr Josephine Melberg - aka Countess Janina Suchodolska - is based upon her own memoirs and what the authors could verify, as her story is without a doubt, fantastic. Here was this fearless Polish, Jewish woman who took on the persona of a Countess, worked for the Resistance in Poland, and then had the audacity and wherewithal to take on the might of the Nazis on behalf of the Jews held at the Majdanek concentration camp. And she survived it all!
"Janina" defied stereotypes - she was so concerned for the welfare of those at the concentration camp, that she took on this alter-ego of the Countess and literally badgered the officials into allowing her to feed the inmates and improve conditions. Along the way we learn of Janina's early life before the war and what became of her after it. A remarkable woman whose heroic achievements became renowned long after they occurred.
Highly recommended reading!
Much of what is written about Dr Josephine Melberg - aka Countess Janina Suchodolska - is based upon her own memoirs and what the authors could verify, as her story is without a doubt, fantastic. Here was this fearless Polish, Jewish woman who took on the persona of a Countess, worked for the Resistance in Poland, and then had the audacity and wherewithal to take on the might of the Nazis on behalf of the Jews held at the Majdanek concentration camp. And she survived it all!
"Janina" defied stereotypes - she was so concerned for the welfare of those at the concentration camp, that she took on this alter-ego of the Countess and literally badgered the officials into allowing her to feed the inmates and improve conditions. Along the way we learn of Janina's early life before the war and what became of her after it. A remarkable woman whose heroic achievements became renowned long after they occurred.
Highly recommended reading!
May 14, 2024
Wow this deeply disturbing harrowing true story gives a compelling insight inyo an unsung hero and thd teality of war. It told it straight. Graphical with feeling. The narrator did a good job of dealing with a tough subject. It was enjoyable to learn more about someone id knew nothing about. It was shocking heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. It told the plight the horror the hope the despair and the humanity of all. More stories like this need to be told. Thank you so much for this 5 star lisyen. It was intense and humbling. Thanks netgallery and publisher and author and narrator
January 9, 2024
This excellent biography of Josephine Janina Mehlberg and her life in Poland under Nazi rule is based on her own unpublished memoir and extensive research.
As I've said in other reviews over the years, it's extremely important to bring as many firsthand, eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust as possible to the attention of the world. This is a powerful weapon against repeating the past and against the constant and increasing gaslighting and revisionist history currently gaining traction.
Though we've been aware of a number of stories of ordinary people across Europe who were active in the resistance and saved Jews and other "undesirables" from the death camps, we are much less familiar with people like Janina Mehlberg.
Janina and her husband were educated Polish Jews who were able to get falsified identity papers and move to Lubin, where people knew her as Countess Suchodolska. After learning about what was going on in the Majdanek concentration camp outside her new city and worrying about family and friends she had left behind, she knew she had to do something to help the prisoners. She didn't question who she was helping or why they were held at Majdanek--she simply saw human beings who were undergoing unthinkable horrors.
Risking her own life every day for years, Janina saved thousands of men, women, and children, most of whom were Christian Poles. She stood strong in the face of evil men and managed to bring food, clothes, and medicine inside the compound.
Hers is a story of bravery and ethics. As she wrote, what is one life worth unless it can be used to save others? This is an important book that reminds us that individuals have the ability to make real changes. It's also a book that is blunt in its account of how the Nazi regime treated those they deemed subhuman or not worth their concern--Jews, Romas, Poles, and many others were murdered by the millions, sometimes tens of thousands a day.
The audiobook is performed by Gilli Messer, who did an excellent job. She was expressive without distracting the listener from the historical facts and without dramatizing the everyday atrocities Janina witnessed. Her pronunciation of German, Russian, Polish, and other languages seemed authentic.
I was lucky enough to also have a digital review copy of this book, so was able to see the maps and get a clearer picture of Janina movements in and around Lubin.
Thanks to the publishers for review copies in different media.
As I've said in other reviews over the years, it's extremely important to bring as many firsthand, eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust as possible to the attention of the world. This is a powerful weapon against repeating the past and against the constant and increasing gaslighting and revisionist history currently gaining traction.
Though we've been aware of a number of stories of ordinary people across Europe who were active in the resistance and saved Jews and other "undesirables" from the death camps, we are much less familiar with people like Janina Mehlberg.
Janina and her husband were educated Polish Jews who were able to get falsified identity papers and move to Lubin, where people knew her as Countess Suchodolska. After learning about what was going on in the Majdanek concentration camp outside her new city and worrying about family and friends she had left behind, she knew she had to do something to help the prisoners. She didn't question who she was helping or why they were held at Majdanek--she simply saw human beings who were undergoing unthinkable horrors.
Risking her own life every day for years, Janina saved thousands of men, women, and children, most of whom were Christian Poles. She stood strong in the face of evil men and managed to bring food, clothes, and medicine inside the compound.
Hers is a story of bravery and ethics. As she wrote, what is one life worth unless it can be used to save others? This is an important book that reminds us that individuals have the ability to make real changes. It's also a book that is blunt in its account of how the Nazi regime treated those they deemed subhuman or not worth their concern--Jews, Romas, Poles, and many others were murdered by the millions, sometimes tens of thousands a day.
The audiobook is performed by Gilli Messer, who did an excellent job. She was expressive without distracting the listener from the historical facts and without dramatizing the everyday atrocities Janina witnessed. Her pronunciation of German, Russian, Polish, and other languages seemed authentic.
I was lucky enough to also have a digital review copy of this book, so was able to see the maps and get a clearer picture of Janina movements in and around Lubin.
Thanks to the publishers for review copies in different media.
April 29, 2024
I'm a bit torn on the review. On one hand, the events are interesting, and the Countess' life is one worth being written about for sure.
On the other, this particular presentation is slow, monotonous, and reads like an extended textbook. I found myself wanting to bail on it several times over.
If you don't mind reading something that's written in that fashion, go for it. But if you want details, world building, and a story that is written in a way that draws you in, this isn't it.
On the other, this particular presentation is slow, monotonous, and reads like an extended textbook. I found myself wanting to bail on it several times over.
If you don't mind reading something that's written in that fashion, go for it. But if you want details, world building, and a story that is written in a way that draws you in, this isn't it.
February 15, 2024
Many WWII-era books I've read seem beyond belief in terms of the extraordinary challenges and impossible choices people faced. White and Silwa's biography of the Jewish Pole Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg (1905-1969), who survived WWII in occupied Poland by living as the fictional non-Jewish persona Countess Janina Suchodolska and risking her life countless times in her work for the Polish resistance movement by giving aid and contraband to prisoners at the Majdanek concentration camp, definitely fits in that category. This book is based off of Mehlberg's unpublished memoir and has been rigorously researched and corroborated.
Part of my motivation for reading the book was to understand more about the early life of my grandmother, who was a teenager in Poland during the Nazi/Soviet occupation and who was one of the thousands of Poles seized from their homes and conscripted into labor in Germany. There were a lot of interesting tidbits I gleaned from this book about that, and about life in Poland in general during the war.
Further reading - WWII stories:
The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger
The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug by Thomas Hager
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The Children of Willesden Lane. Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival by Mona Golabek
Part of my motivation for reading the book was to understand more about the early life of my grandmother, who was a teenager in Poland during the Nazi/Soviet occupation and who was one of the thousands of Poles seized from their homes and conscripted into labor in Germany. There were a lot of interesting tidbits I gleaned from this book about that, and about life in Poland in general during the war.
Further reading - WWII stories:
The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger
The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug by Thomas Hager
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The Children of Willesden Lane. Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival by Mona Golabek
March 2, 2024
Well researched non fictional account of a brilliant mathematician Jewish female professor who hides in plain sight during WW2 in Poland. She sets herself as a Polish Countess and heads an RGO organization to delivery food and aid to thousands of detained Poles. She saves countless lives while risking herself. The treatment after the was by the remaining Poles and the Soviet Union make it untenable for her and her husband to continue to live safely there. Through much difficulty, she escapes to Canada eventually becoming a US citizen and renown professor.
Her story is only told due to her husband translating her Polish memoir into English and the work of historians dedicated to verifying its truth.
It could make a great movie.
Her story is only told due to her husband translating her Polish memoir into English and the work of historians dedicated to verifying its truth.
It could make a great movie.
October 27, 2024
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As someone who works with numbers for a living, I appreciate the absolute genius of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg. I’ve always enjoyed historical biographies and I’ve enjoyed many from this time period in particular. What I really loved about this book is the approach the authors took in meticulously caring for their research and providing their findings along the way. I appreciate that they went into detail about their process of verifying claims which is something that is often overlooked in this type of writing. Ultimately, an intriguing story of another hero of WWII.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the arc!
As someone who works with numbers for a living, I appreciate the absolute genius of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg. I’ve always enjoyed historical biographies and I’ve enjoyed many from this time period in particular. What I really loved about this book is the approach the authors took in meticulously caring for their research and providing their findings along the way. I appreciate that they went into detail about their process of verifying claims which is something that is often overlooked in this type of writing. Ultimately, an intriguing story of another hero of WWII.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the arc!
February 23, 2024
The Counterfeit Countess by Elizabeth B. White and Joanna Sliwa is the true story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg, a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of Poles from the Nazis in WW II. This is a little known story from WW II. It's written as a narrative and the detail shows the heavy amount of research done by the authors.
I'm always amazed at the bravery shown by those who stood up to the Nazis. Janina constantly pushed the concentration camp leaders to let her help the prisoners. She never accepted a no and kept asking more and more. Always just a moment away from arrest herself.
She even convinced them to let her bring Christmas trees in one year.
An amazing story.
I'm always amazed at the bravery shown by those who stood up to the Nazis. Janina constantly pushed the concentration camp leaders to let her help the prisoners. She never accepted a no and kept asking more and more. Always just a moment away from arrest herself.
She even convinced them to let her bring Christmas trees in one year.
An amazing story.
August 9, 2024
This struggled to pull me in for the first half (I was listening) but omg the second half was like a movie! What a crazy cool woman with such a beautiful impact.
March 4, 2024
It is unspeakable how unsettling & gut wrenching it is to hear of the traumas that people endured at the hands of Nazi Germany & beyond. It is equally as hard to put words to the incredible awe I feel towards those who were brave enough to risk their lives daily to save at least some of the people unjustly taken into captivity by this regime. Would I be as brave?
January 20, 2025
Fascinating!
March 26, 2024
For sure she made a huge difference, but it reads like a history book, dates and names and minimal story or context.
July 17, 2024
This is the first book in the WWII (European theatre) genre that I have read in awhile as I felt no new information was explored. The Counterfeit Countess shares events and actions that are not discussed frequently. I did listen to the audiobook and looked up images to get a visual to go along with the book. I had not heard of Majdansk Concentration Camp nor of the efforts to feed and rescue Poles in such large numbers.
January 14, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 1/23/2024. Having a teacher in high school obsessed with educating us on the horror of the Holocaust and having a professor in college whose specialty was the same, you would think that I would have come across the story of Dr Josephine Janina Mehlberg aka Countess Janina Suchodolska aka Pepi Spinner aka rather a lot of other names. Yet I had not and I am so grateful now to know it through this book. Janina stands out as one of the smartest, toughest, most ballsy rescuers I have ever read about and, indeed, is one of the most amazing mixtures of logic and emotion that I bet you will ever find. Born a Polish Jew to very well-off parents, she grew up surrounded by comfort and friends and all of the intellectual stimulation her incredibly active brain could want. In fact, for quite a while, she lived the contented life of the upper intelligensia, a respected mathematician and statistician; her and her husband teaching and learning and having parties with clever conversation and the like. Then the Nazis rose to power and invaded Poland and everything changed. So did Janina. First escaping one city for another with her husband, then becoming someone else entirely - an ethnic Polish aristocrate, the Countess Suchodolska - formidable negotiator with the German overseers of the nearby prison camp, Majdanek, and diminutive but determined do-gooder out to save as many lives as she could.
While this book is definitely scholarly, it does not come across as cold. Yes, there are a lot of dates and numbers and the purely overwhelming figures of prisoners and food and the logistics of getting everything together. Janina was a master of calculation and risks and probability. This book is based on her personally written memoir, bolstered by a lot of research and first hand sources by the authors. You get the sense that she almost had to focus on the numbers at times to keep safe. Plus she used her brain to calculate the risks and work the numbers towards as high a success rate as she could. In the end, though, Janina always held her own life at a lower risk value than any of the thousands of Polish prisoners, dozens of Underground Army colleagues, her husband, and the city citizens. Repeatedly through the book, you come up against her personal motto - if her single life can save multiple others, then that is the best thing she could do. It is/was worth the risk.
She took many risks indeed and narrowly escaped captured a few times. One of her comrades even lost his life saving her, not regretting the action one bit - something that clearly stayed with her throughout her life and drove her even harder to save as many as she could. Outside of the amazing feats she managed in offering hope and succor to the prisoners, Janina also managed to observe humans at their bet and worst and come to the conclusion that, where there is evil, there is also a chance for grace - often in the same person. Time and again, she was faced with kindness from a cruel tormentor. While you never feel that she excused such people from their actions, you feel her underlying grasp of the hope such lights represented.
Even if Janina did not think she did saved enough people, helped enough, and it clearly bothered her that she could not single out the Jewish inmates as she wished... Many people would argue that every single thing she did was a mark in the column of good and worthy. Please read this book for both hope and horror and to learn about a truly amazing woman.
While this book is definitely scholarly, it does not come across as cold. Yes, there are a lot of dates and numbers and the purely overwhelming figures of prisoners and food and the logistics of getting everything together. Janina was a master of calculation and risks and probability. This book is based on her personally written memoir, bolstered by a lot of research and first hand sources by the authors. You get the sense that she almost had to focus on the numbers at times to keep safe. Plus she used her brain to calculate the risks and work the numbers towards as high a success rate as she could. In the end, though, Janina always held her own life at a lower risk value than any of the thousands of Polish prisoners, dozens of Underground Army colleagues, her husband, and the city citizens. Repeatedly through the book, you come up against her personal motto - if her single life can save multiple others, then that is the best thing she could do. It is/was worth the risk.
She took many risks indeed and narrowly escaped captured a few times. One of her comrades even lost his life saving her, not regretting the action one bit - something that clearly stayed with her throughout her life and drove her even harder to save as many as she could. Outside of the amazing feats she managed in offering hope and succor to the prisoners, Janina also managed to observe humans at their bet and worst and come to the conclusion that, where there is evil, there is also a chance for grace - often in the same person. Time and again, she was faced with kindness from a cruel tormentor. While you never feel that she excused such people from their actions, you feel her underlying grasp of the hope such lights represented.
Even if Janina did not think she did saved enough people, helped enough, and it clearly bothered her that she could not single out the Jewish inmates as she wished... Many people would argue that every single thing she did was a mark in the column of good and worthy. Please read this book for both hope and horror and to learn about a truly amazing woman.
February 4, 2024
## The Counterfeit Countess
The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust
by Elizabeth B. White; Joanna Sliwa
Pub Date 23 Jan 2024
Simon & Schuster
Biographies & Memoirs| History
Simon & Schuster and Netgalley sent me a copy of The Counterfeit Countess to review:
This is a must read memoir!
This book uses Mehlberg's own unpublished memoir, to reveal the astonishing story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg, a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Many stories of resistance and rescue emerged during World War II and the Holocaust, but The Counterfeit Countess stands out. 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.The book tells the tale of "Countess Janina Suchodolska," a Jewish woman who saved more than 10,000 Polish prisoners from
Mehlberg operated in Lublin, Poland, the headquarters of Aktion Reinhard, the SS operation that murdered 1.7 million Jews. Under the guise of a Polish aristocrat, she worked as a welfare official and served in the Polish resistance. The "Countess" persuaded SS officials to release thousands of Poles from Majdanek concentration camp with guile, cajolery, and steely persistence. She delivered food, medicine, and even Christmas trees to thousands more prisoners. During this time, she personally smuggled supplies and messages to resistance fighters imprisoned at Majdanek, where 63,000 Jews were killed. Amazingly, she eluded detection and survived the war.
Based on Mehlberg's unpublished memoir and extensive research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa have uncovered the full story of this remarkable woman. Mehlberg's sometimes harrowing testimony is woven into a broader historical narrative. Like The Light of Days, Schindler’s List, and Irena’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is an unforgettable account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.In a similar manner to The Light of Days, Schindler's List, and Irena's Children, The Counterfeit Countess inspires courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
If you are looking for a memoir that is part heartbreak and part hope at a time when if seemed all hope was lost, I highly recommend The Counterfeit Countess'
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust
by Elizabeth B. White; Joanna Sliwa
Pub Date 23 Jan 2024
Simon & Schuster
Biographies & Memoirs| History
Simon & Schuster and Netgalley sent me a copy of The Counterfeit Countess to review:
This is a must read memoir!
This book uses Mehlberg's own unpublished memoir, to reveal the astonishing story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg, a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Many stories of resistance and rescue emerged during World War II and the Holocaust, but The Counterfeit Countess stands out. 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.The book tells the tale of "Countess Janina Suchodolska," a Jewish woman who saved more than 10,000 Polish prisoners from
Mehlberg operated in Lublin, Poland, the headquarters of Aktion Reinhard, the SS operation that murdered 1.7 million Jews. Under the guise of a Polish aristocrat, she worked as a welfare official and served in the Polish resistance. The "Countess" persuaded SS officials to release thousands of Poles from Majdanek concentration camp with guile, cajolery, and steely persistence. She delivered food, medicine, and even Christmas trees to thousands more prisoners. During this time, she personally smuggled supplies and messages to resistance fighters imprisoned at Majdanek, where 63,000 Jews were killed. Amazingly, she eluded detection and survived the war.
Based on Mehlberg's unpublished memoir and extensive research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa have uncovered the full story of this remarkable woman. Mehlberg's sometimes harrowing testimony is woven into a broader historical narrative. Like The Light of Days, Schindler’s List, and Irena’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is an unforgettable account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.In a similar manner to The Light of Days, Schindler's List, and Irena's Children, The Counterfeit Countess inspires courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
If you are looking for a memoir that is part heartbreak and part hope at a time when if seemed all hope was lost, I highly recommend The Counterfeit Countess'
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
Read
March 17, 2024I can’t say I enjoyed reading this book, because it is not pleasurable to read about the horrific violence and murder perpetrated by the Nazis during WWII.
However, the thoroughness of the research by the authors is hard to deny. It was uplifting to see all the good that was accomplished by Janina and those she worked alongside, but still very depressing, in general. It will give you nightmares, I dare say; not for the faint of heart. I considered not finishing it, it was so disturbing. I am very glad that her story has been duly recorded and is “out in the world,” and, hopefully, not to be forgotten.
However, the thoroughness of the research by the authors is hard to deny. It was uplifting to see all the good that was accomplished by Janina and those she worked alongside, but still very depressing, in general. It will give you nightmares, I dare say; not for the faint of heart. I considered not finishing it, it was so disturbing. I am very glad that her story has been duly recorded and is “out in the world,” and, hopefully, not to be forgotten.
January 16, 2025
When you think you've read everything worth reading about World War II, try "The Counterfeit Countess". It is a difficult book to read because of the incedible cruelty of Nazi soldiers in conquered Poland during the war. But through all this cruelty, one Polish woman deceives the Nazis into believing she is a countess and is therefore treated with more respect than most Polish residents. What she is able to accomplish for refugees in Polish concentraton camps is astonishing. The book by Elizabeth White is one of the most memorable I've read on this subject.
August 30, 2024
Nonfiction about a Jewish woman who posed as a Polish princess to save herself but also to try to help as many people as possible, Jewish and non Jewish, that were being held in the local prison/concentration camps. She was very admirable.
The tough part of the book was all the details about what was going in the camps. The authors spent a lot of time on that which, of course, was very disturbing.
The tough part of the book was all the details about what was going in the camps. The authors spent a lot of time on that which, of course, was very disturbing.
February 6, 2025
I listened to this book via Audible.
I was browsing an Audible sale when I saw this book and the title sucked me in immediately. I wasn't looking for anything about the Holocaust but I ended up there anyway.
In short, the feats of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg during World War II and afterwards under Soviet rule were incredible, awe-inspiring, and amazing. Her story really made me think about what I would have done in her situation, and wonder what my distant relatives in Poland, Germany, and Ukraine were doing at the same time. I hope at least some of them were half as brave as she was.
It's heartbreaking to hear about these accounts in such excruciating detail - the pain that was inflicted upon humans by other humans is beyond my comprehension. It also boggles my mind how during and after the war, there was still so much hate and animosity between groups of people who were all oppressed and slaughtered by the Nazis. It's upsetting that it still exists to this day and so many refuse to learn the lessons of the Holocaust. It makes Janina's actions all that more incredible, since she was able to ignore all the hate and racism to focus on saving people.
I think everyone can benefit from reading this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. The world would be a better place if everyone learned from Janina and gained some empathy.
I was browsing an Audible sale when I saw this book and the title sucked me in immediately. I wasn't looking for anything about the Holocaust but I ended up there anyway.
In short, the feats of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg during World War II and afterwards under Soviet rule were incredible, awe-inspiring, and amazing. Her story really made me think about what I would have done in her situation, and wonder what my distant relatives in Poland, Germany, and Ukraine were doing at the same time. I hope at least some of them were half as brave as she was.
It's heartbreaking to hear about these accounts in such excruciating detail - the pain that was inflicted upon humans by other humans is beyond my comprehension. It also boggles my mind how during and after the war, there was still so much hate and animosity between groups of people who were all oppressed and slaughtered by the Nazis. It's upsetting that it still exists to this day and so many refuse to learn the lessons of the Holocaust. It makes Janina's actions all that more incredible, since she was able to ignore all the hate and racism to focus on saving people.
I think everyone can benefit from reading this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. The world would be a better place if everyone learned from Janina and gained some empathy.
June 4, 2024
Audiobook, read well. True story as taken from her memoirs after her death in 1965. Translated by a prof in FL and her husband. Sad story of the polish people be it Jews or others caught up by the nazi regime and placed in polish concentration camp. Unbelievable recount of the people she encountered and the thousands she saved. Quite a courageous woman.
January 13, 2025
What an interesting story. While I had definitely heard of Majdanek before, mostly just in passing, I hadn't heard much of what was happening in the area but also this story. This book, though slow in reading, is well researched (and the amount of research they needed is massive).
May 23, 2025
Read too much like a history book- unable to finish it
April 14, 2025
This is an incredible book that is important for everyone to read. While some have suggested it’s like reading a history textbook, well, I wouldn’t call it a text book, but yes, there is history that is needed for context. This is so valuable and provides valuable insight and historical correction. It’s hard to put down, and (emotionally)hard to read. But it’s necessary.
November 12, 2024
Absolute best nook I have read all year. The humanity and courage of this woman is what our country needs now.
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March 14, 2025An interesting premise- the authors started with a memoir and meticulously researched the memoir author and Poland during WWII.
April 9, 2024
Read like a textbook - very plodding!! Fascinating woman who did amazing work saving lives, but a tough read!!
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