February 04, 2024

Dr. Elizabeth White and Dr. Joanna Sliwa discuss their book, The Counterfeit Countess: the Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust

57 minutes

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Show Notes:
2:00 Dr. Joanna Sliwa’s background
4:20 Dr. Elizabeth White’s background
5:20 Majdanek concentration camp
8:00 1989 - White received the manuscript of Dr. Janina Mehlberg’s unpublished memoir from Dr. Arthur Funk
10:30 Dr. Janina Mehlberg’s humanitarian work in Polish concentration camp during WWII
12:20 Mehlberg’s alias as Countess Suchodolska
13:30 2018 - Dr. Joanna Sliwa began work with Dr. White to research Mehlberg's memoir
15:00 reading from The Counterfeit Countess
20:00 balance of co-authoring The Counterfeit Countess
22:20 research process
24:00 surprises from the research
27:45 Countess Karolina Lanckorońska
30:30 Saturnina Malm
33:30 Dr. Stefania Perzanowska
35:00 view of women’s roles during war and instances of persecution
38:00 empathic approach of Mehlberg as a model for today
42:00 propoganda
46:00 individual ways to address hate
49:00 justice
51:45 legacy
54:30 Sliwa’s focus on marginalized groups, including future volume on experiences of older jews before, during and after the Holocaust

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Music by Toulme.

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© Stephanie Drawdy [2025]

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