Elizabeth R. Hyman, "The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto: The True Story of Five Courageous Young Women Who Sparked an Uprising" (Harper, 2025)

Nov 3, 2025

Elizabeth Hyman, a Holocaust historian and author, sheds light on the remarkable stories of five young Polish Jewish women known as the 'Girl Bandits' of the Warsaw Ghetto. They played crucial roles in the uprising, challenging traditional narratives dominated by male figures. Hyman discusses her journey to uncover their stories, the complexity of Polish-Jewish relations, and the surprising humanity found amidst horror. She emphasizes the importance of re-inserting women's resistance into collective memory while connecting these historical lessons to modern struggles against dehumanization.

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ANECDOTE

Family Flight Shaped Her Focus

Hyman's family fled Poland in 1939, and she grew up hearing her grandmother's stories.
She avoided Holocaust topics early but later embraced them in graduate school.

INSIGHT

Women Are Central, Not Peripheral

Elizabeth Hyman realized women played central, underrecognized roles in resistance inside the Warsaw Ghetto.
She frames her book as correcting public memory rather than making new academic claims.

ANECDOTE

From Blog Series To Book Project

Hyman began researching Vladka Meed via a long blog series that grew into a book project.
Her mother's suggestion convinced her to expand the series into a full book.

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The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the most storied events of the Holocaust, yet previous accounts of have almost entirely focused on its male participants. In The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto: The True Story of Five Courageous Young Women Who Sparked an Uprising (Harper, 2025), Holocaust historian Elizabeth Hyman introduces five young, courageous Polish Jewish women—known as “the girls” by the leadership of the resistance and “bandits” by their Nazi oppressors—who were central to the Jewish resistance as fighters, commanders, couriers, and smugglers. They include:
Zivia Lubetkin, the most senior female member of the Jewish Fighting Organization Command Staff in Warsaw and a reluctant legend in her own time, who was immortalized by her code name, "Celina"
Vladka Meed, who smuggled dynamite into and illegal literature out of the Warsaw Ghetto in preparation for the uprising
Dr. Idina “Inka” Blady-Schweiger, a young medical student who became a reluctant angel of mercy
Tema Schneiderman, a tall, beautiful and fearless young woman who volunteered for smuggling and rescue missions across Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe
Tossia Altman, a heroic courier with a poetic soul, who helped bring arms into the Warsaw Ghetto, fought in the Uprising, and ferried communiques to the outside world
Interspersed with the stories of other Jewish women who resisted, The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto rescues these women from the shadows of time, bringing to light their resilience, bravery, and cunning in the face of unspeakable hardship—inspiring stories of courage, daring, and resistance that must never be forgotten.

Elizabeth Hyman is the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Polish Jews who fled their homeland in 1939 and ultimately made their way, as refugees, to the United States. She earned dual master’s degrees in History and Library and Information Science from the University of Maryland-College Park, and has written the history blog, “HISTORICITY (was already taken),” since 2011. She lives in New Paltz, New York.

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