In 1989, historian Elizabeth White received a mysterious manuscript. It told how Jewish mathematician Janina Mehlberg survived the Holocaust in German-occupied Lublin Poland by posing as "the Countess Suchodolska," a Polish Christian relief worker. Through face-to-face negotiations with Nazi officials and clandestine work for the resistance, she provided life-saving aid to non-Jewish Polish victims of Nazi persecution in Lublin and to prisoners at Majdanek concentration camp, where 63,000 Jews were gassed or shot to death. To corroborate this astonishing story, White and fellow Holocaust historian Joanna Sliwa conducted research in nine countries. They discovered that Mehlberg accomplished far more than she claimed. This talk will highlight what we can learn from Mehlberg's story about Holocaust history, ethnic relations in extreme situations, and humanity in times of crisis.

Dr. Elizabeth “Barry” White recently retired from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where she served as historian and as Research Director for the USHMM’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide.

Dr. Joanna Sliwa is a historian at the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) in New York, where she also administers academic programs.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50 years of age and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.