She had no soldiers, weapons, or military rank. She did have a pen, a typewriter, excellent connections, and an inexhaustible determination. That was how this Jewish lawyer from Casablanca became the woman who provided thousands of refugees with food, shelter, and, above all, the piece of paper that could save their lives.
Jewish Soldiers in Nazi Captivity
Beyond Hannah Senesh and the Jewish Brigade: Thousands of soldiers from the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine enlisted in the British Army and served in its various units. This is the story of one such unit, which had the misfortune to fall into the clutches of the Nazis, remaining captive for years.
The Widow, the Rabbi, and the Bookseller
A Jerusalem bookseller, a rabbi under Soviet rule, and a widowed rabbanit from the Land of Israel all meet at the National Library… No, this is not, of course, the beginning of a joke, but rather the story of an archive preserving documents that are much more than just pages and postcards.
The Blecherovitz File: The Anti-Theft Measure That Helped Unravel a Holocaust Family Tragedy
Copyright protection or detective’s clue? The story of an odd signature, left in a book, which revealed an entire family history – and the one daughter who survived to tell it.
Sara Braverman: The Paratrooper Who Didn’t Jump
Hannah Senesh, Haviva Reik, and Sara Braverman set out to parachute into Europe on behalf of their brothers and sisters living under Nazi rule. Of the three, only Sara survived. This is her story.
The Rabbi, the Rebbe, and the Japanese Plan to Bring Jews to China
How one scheme to resettle Jewish World War II refugees in East Asia was serendipitously discovered by a New York rabbi.
Meyer Levin: A Forgotten American Jewish Writer and the Controversy Over Anne Frank
A novelist, journalist, filmmaker and passionate Zionist activist, Levin left behind a rich and influential body of work. Today, however, he is remembered primarily for one dramatic chapter in his life: his role in bringing “The Diary of Anne Frank” to international attention, and the painful public controversy that erupted when the diary was adapted for Broadway
A Ballerina in Auschwitz: Dr. Edith Eger’s Choice
The many obituaries published about her around the world focused on the horrific moment that became inseparable from her public story: dancing before Dr. Mengele at Auschwitz. But the life of Edith Eger, who began as an anonymous Jewish girl in Hungary and became a celebrated psychologist in the United States, was infinitely larger than any headline. It is an extraordinary and deeply moving story of courage, faith, wisdom, and unyielding resilience.
From Belarus to Shanghai: The Mir Yeshiva’s Journey of Survival
The extraordinary story of hundreds of yeshiva students who crossed Russia by train, sailed to Japan, and reunited in Shanghai. A story of enduring faith, of a library rebuilt under impossible conditions, and of a journey that helped shape the future of the yeshiva world.
The Notebook Saved From the Death Train
Eighty-two years ago, on a night of terror for the Jews of Suplacu de Barcău in Romania, Rabbi Shmuel Klein managed to pass a modest notebook containing his Torah writings into safe hands at the town’s train station, just before he was sent to Auschwitz. Recently, it reached the National Library of Israel. This is its story.
