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When the Nazis forcibly moved the Jewish population of Vilna, Lithuania to the ghetto, Vitka Kempner was ready. Born in Poland and always interested in education, Vitka fled her home town at 19 years old. In Vilna, she met two people who would accompany her through all the hard years ahead. Abba Kovner and Ruzka Korczack were more than just her partisans in arms, they were part of an inseparable trio.

As part of the United Partisans Organization, she became a courier tasked with escorting Jews in and out of Vilna. To her, the greatest mission was getting everyone out of the ghetto before it was liquidated. Under enormous dangers posed by the Nazis, Vitka orchestrated sabotage missions resulting in blown up trains, power outages, and poisoned elite guards. She navigated immense risk with an ability to blend in like she naturally belonged there.

Come along with us as we tell Vitka's story of resistance and bravery, life as a partisan, and life after World War II through history and astrology.

Please practice self care when listening to this episode.

                                                                Sources
Articles:

• Abba Kovner in Holocaust Encyclopedia (Holocaust Memorial Museum) (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/abba-kovner#:~:text=In%201961%2C%20Kovner%20testified%20at,Abba%20Kovner%20died%20in%201987) 
• Atkion 1005 by Shoah Resource Center (https://wwv.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205721.pdf) 
• Kalish, Kosminek and the Camps by Wolf Lassman (https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/kalisz1/kal275.html) 
• Ponary in Holocaust Encyclopedia (Holocaust Memorial Museum) (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/ponary) 
• Vitka Kovner, partisan, passes away at the age of 92 by The World Holocaust Remembrance Center (https://www.yadvashem.org/press-release/15-february-2012-16-41.html) 

Books: 

• The Avengers: A Jewish War Story by Rich Cohen 
• "Heroic Young Women" in Partizaner geyen by Shmerke Kaczerginski, translated by Lillian Leavitt (https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/language-literature-culture/pakn-treger/2022-pakn-treger-digital-translation-issue/heroic-young) 

Digital Media:

• The Beginnings of Jewish Civilization in Poland and Lithuania (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdskbkLLdG4) 
• Holocaust: The Revenge Plot (2018)
• The Rebel: Vitka Kempner (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rebel-vitka-kempner/id1658561964?i=1000592001618) 

Primary Sources:

• Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt 
• Nazis Complete Segregation of Jews in Vilna, October 12, 1941 (https://www.jta.org/archive/nazis-complete-segregation-of-jews-in-vilna) 
•  Oral History Interview with Vitka Kempner (https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn50190) 

Websites:

• History | Color Psychotherapy (https://www.colorpsychotherapy.com/history) 
• Joining the FPO (https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/joining-fpo) 
• Ponary | Holocaust Encyclopedia (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/ponary) 
• Ponary: Murder Site of the Jews of Vilna and the Surrounding Areas (https://www.yadvashem.org/vilna/during/german-occupation/ponary.html) 
• Vitka Kempner’s Biography (https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/vitka-kempners-biography) 
• Vitka Kempner | Jewish Partisans (https://www.jewishpartisans.org/partisans/vitka-kempner) 
• Vitka Kempner-Kovner (https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/kempner-kovner-vitka) 

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