This programme will focus on instances of solidarity and compassion among female prisoners in Nazi camps during the Holocaust, raising questions about the connection between a shared sense of unity and the chances of survival. Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel will give the opening remarks on the importance of researching and discussing the history of women and their unique experiences during the Holocaust.
The first speaker, Dr. Mehak Burza, will explore the manifestations of solidarity among female prisoners, as well as the various strategies used to keep up the struggle for survival in the camps, while seeking a sense of solidarity and sisterhood. Burza will also trace the role of kashariyot – the young female couriers who played a crucial role in the resistance against Nazi-occupied Europe.
The second speaker, Prof. Yoel Yaari, will present the unique story of Bela Hazan, who was born in 1922 in Rozyszcze, Poland. She served as a courier in the underground youth movement Dror, using a Polish false identity. After being arrested, she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Yaari will explore Hazan’s remarkable demonstration of devotion and solidarity as she took care of the patients in the Jewish ward, serving as a nurse.
This programme is a partnership between Ghetto Fighters House Museum, the Remember the Women Institute, the Rabin Chair Forum at George Washington University, and the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre.