WHISC - Women in the Holocaust - International Study Center

03/06/2026

80 Years Since the Zivia Conference

Join the Ghetto Fighters’ House, in partnership with WHISC – Women in the Holocaust International Study Center, for a special commemorative event marking the 80th anniversary of the historic “Zivia Conference” held at Kibbutz Yagur in June 1946.

This unique program will explore the legacy of Zivia Lubetkin—leader of the Jewish underground in Warsaw, a central figure in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and one of the most influential voices of Holocaust testimony in the postwar years.

Featuring:
Prof. Lori Weintrob
Dr. Batya Brutin
Ruth Kupperberg

Sunday, June 7, 2026

The event will examine testimony, resistance, remembrance, Holocaust education, and the enduring relevance of Zivia Lubetkin’s words and actions for future generations.

For full information and registration, visit the event page.
https://www.whisc.center/Zivia-Conference

This program is presented in partnership with the Holocaust Center of Wagner College, WHISC – Women in the Holocaust International Study Center, Remember the Women Institute, Classrooms Without Borders, the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, and the Rabin Chair Forum at George Washington University.

המכללה האקדמית בית ברל
Wagner College Holocaust Center
Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre
The George Washington University
Remember the Women Institute
Classrooms Without Borders

03/06/2026

What would you do if you spent a lifetime searching for the answer to a family mystery?

Join WHISC for a special online screening and discussion of The Granddaughter, a moving documentary about Holocaust survivor Ewa Heller-Ekblad and her search to understand why her grandmother, Dr. Anna Braude-Heller, chose to remain with her patients in the Warsaw Ghetto rather than attempt to save herself.

Following selected excerpts from the film, we will be joined by:

Masza Makarowa – Filmmaker and historian
Ewa Heller-Ekblad – Warsaw Ghetto survivor and the central figure in the film
Prof. Dr. Lily Zamir – Moderator and WHISC Academic Director

Thursday, June 25, 2026
20:00 Israel Time
Online via Zoom

This special event explores memory, moral choices, family legacy, and the ways Holocaust experiences continue to shape future generations.

Registration: https://shorturl.at/tPOT7

Hosted by WHISC – Women in the Holocaust International Study Center.

Trailer "Wnuczka Naczelnej" | The Granddaughter

03/05/2026

An extraordinary personal story that moves between memory, morality, and history.
We invite you to listen to “Doing the Right Thing” by Dr. Pieternella Spruytenburg Avrahami — a powerful reflection on human choice in impossible circumstances.

25/03/2026

Breaking the Silence: Dutch Women During the Holocaust

Join us for a compelling discussion on the roles, voices, and overlooked experiences of Dutch women during the Holocaust—exploring resistance, silence, and moral complexity.

📅 Date: April 28, 2026
🕗 Time: 20:00 (Israel time)
🔗 Register here: https://forms.gle/dp9ABhuukPVkUgAv9

We look forward to your participation.

Date: April 28, 2026 | Time: 20:00 (Israel Time) | Location: Online via Zoom ......................... Panel Moderator: Dr. Carol Rittner, RSM ➥ Dr. Dienke Hondius “Silence and Voice: Dutch Women During the Holocaust” ➥ Dr. Geert Jan Colijn “The Four Phases of Dutch Women in World War II.....

08/03/2026

Today we honor the courage, resilience, and voices of women throughout history.

In these days, while our region is in the midst of a difficult military conflict, women once again take an active role on the front lines of society — as soldiers, caregivers, leaders, and defenders of their communities. Women continue to carry a growing share of the burden, while still fighting for full recognition of their rights and their place in shaping the future.

This reality reminds us of another moment in history when women stood up with extraordinary courage.

During the Holocaust, women resisted in many different ways — as couriers, fighters, rescuers, educators, and guardians of human dignity.

As historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum wrote:
"Jewish women at that time wrote a glorious page in the history books."

At the Women in the Holocaust International Study Center (WHISC) we continue to research and preserve these stories.

You are invited to visit our website and explore the many materials dedicated to these remarkable women.
The stories of the women appearing in this image — and many others — can be discovered there.

🔗 Visit the website and learn more https://www.whisc.center/Our-recent-materials

22/02/2026

83 years ago today, on 22 February 1943, Sophie Scholl — a young German student and member of the White Rose resistance group — was executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison together with her brother Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst. Her death marked one of the most powerful moments of moral resistance within N**i Germany, transforming a small student initiative into a lasting symbol of conscience, courage, and civic responsibility in the face of dictatorship.

Sophie Scholl (1921–1943) ** was one of the leading members of the German student resistance group the White Rose, which opposed the N**i regime through the writing and distribution of anti-N**i leaflets. A student of biology and philosophy at the University of Munich, Scholl became a symbol of moral courage, youth resistance, and the power of non-violent dissent. Her legacy continues to represent individual conscience in the face of authoritarian rule.

Sophie Scholl’s importance lies not only in her bravery but in the ethical clarity she articulated as a young woman confronting totalitarianism. She helped shape the White Rose into a moral voice that appealed to students, intellectuals, and wider German society. Her role in writing, editing, and distributing the leaflets — culminating in the act of scattering them in the university atrium — reflects the group’s fusion of intellectual reflection and civic action.

The White Rose was a small, non-violent student resistance network that combined philosophical reflection, religious ethics, and political critique. Its members argued that silence in the face of injustice created collective responsibility and sought to awaken society through language rather than armed struggle. Drawing on literature, theology, and firsthand knowledge of war crimes, they framed resistance as a moral duty and envisioned a post-N**i Europe grounded in federalism, human rights, and civic freedom. Although short-lived, the White Rose became one of the most enduring symbols of intellectual and ethical resistance within N**i Germany.

**Janina Altman, a Holocaust survivor and chemist, conducted research on the German resistance movement the White Rose after her retirement; this research, exploring the moral meaning of internal opposition to N**ism, is preserved in the Moreshet Archive.
"הוורד הלבן" | ינינה אלטמן - " The withe Rose" | Janina Altman
Full article (hebrew) https://shorturl.at/gRSiW










Image: Sophie Scholl, photograph sourced from Wikipedia (public historical reference).

11/02/2026

Enemy or Ally? The Female Body: Gendered Violence – From Scripture to the Holocaust and October Seventh |
Professor Lily Zamir

In her opening lecture, Professor Zamir presented a broad historical and cultural framework for understanding sexual violence against women across time. She examined how the female body has repeatedly been used as a symbolic battlefield — a site of domination, humiliation, and conquest — from biblical narratives through modern conflicts.
She emphasized that in many patriarchal societies, violence against women has been tied to national identity, honor, and collective humiliation. Survivors often faced stigma and silence, both during and after the Holocaust, which contributed to the scarcity of testimonies. The lecture concluded with a call to acknowledge the voices of survivors and the moral responsibility to believe their testimonies and give them historical presence.

[Watch the recording]

13/01/2026

Invitation to an Online Academic Panel
Sexual Violence against Women during the Holocaust

🗓 Wednesday, January 28, 2026
🕗 20:00 (Israel Time)
💻 Online | Zoom

🔗 Registration (required):
https://forms.gle/8ZnwN2HpbbAURv3i8

The Women in the Holocaust – International Study Center (WHISC) invites scholars, educators, students, and the interested public to a virtual academic panel examining the documentation, interpretation, and silencing of sexual violence against women during the Holocaust.

Program
• Opening Remarks & Moderation: Prof. Dr. Lily Zamir
• Enemy or Ally? The Female Body: Gendered Violence – From Scripture to the Holocaust and October Seventh
• Lecture: Prof. Dr. Marta Havryshko – Sexual Violence during the Holocaust: Between Victimization and Agency
• Lecture: Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel & Dr. Sonja M. Hedgepeth – Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust: Do You Believe Them Now?
• Discussion & Q&A

Participation is open to WHISC members, academic colleagues, and the general public.

@עוקבים
Remember the Women Institute

11/12/2025

Dear WHISC friends,
Warm Hanukkah greetings to all of you.
Your dedication and support continue to light our way forward, strengthening our community and advancing Holocaust research and education.
Wishing you and your loved ones a holiday filled with light, health, and hope.
We look forward to continuing this meaningful journey together.

07/12/2025

🎧 Now Available: Full Recording of the Panel Discussion
Past Forward: A Mother–Daughter Journey of Holocaust Memory
Speaker: Ms. Ornit Barkai

We are pleased to share the recorded session of our recent panel featuring documentary filmmaker and scholar Ornit Barkai, centered on her film Past Forward: A Mother–Daughter Journey of Holocaust Memory.

In this remarkable work, Barkai traces the transmission of Holocaust memory across three generations of women in her family—her mother, herself, and her daughter. The film offers a deeply layered examination of:

Intergenerational trauma and resilience

The formation of identity through inherited memory

The role of storytelling and testimony in shaping historical consciousness

By illuminating a lesser-known chapter of the Romanian Holocaust, Barkai opens a compelling space for reflection on how personal narratives contribute to collective remembrance, and how silence, voice, and survival echo across decades.

Ornit Barkai is a documentary filmmaker and scholar whose research and creative work focus on gender, identity, and intergenerational memory. Her films explore how personal and communal histories are transmitted across generations through narrative, testimony, and visual media.

📽️ We invite researchers, historians, educators, and students engaged in memory studies, Holocaust history, trauma transmission, and visual culture to watch the panel and engage with the conversation it opens.