The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust

The true story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg, a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives during the Holocaust by posing as a Polish aristocrat named "Countess Janina Suchodolska" in Nazi-occupied Poland. Drawing on Mehlberg's unpublished memoir, this account documents her work in Lublin, Poland, where she operated near Majdanek concentration camp. Using forged identity papers, Mehlberg worked as a welfare official while participating in the Polish resistance. She persuaded SS officials to release thousands of Poles from Majdanek and secured permission to deliver food, medicine, and other supplies to prisoners. She also smuggled supplies and messages to resistance fighters imprisoned in the camp, where 63,000 Jews were murdered. Despite these dangerous activities, she avoided detection and survived the war, eventually emigrating to the United States. Historians Elizabeth B. White and Joanna Sliwa have reconstructed Mehlberg's story using her memoir and extensive research, combining her personal testimony with historical context to document her resistance and rescue efforts during the Holocaust.