Fearless Women, Powerful Stories: A Three Part Virtual Series

Little Edna’s War

A True Story of Resistance and Hope

Though she fought armed with a pistol, Edna’s true weapons were wit, bravery, and an unshakable love for her sister.

Disguised as a Catholic girl, she even earned a medal from Pope Pius XII, who never knew he was honoring a Jewish child who had outsmarted the Reich.

Drawn from more than five hours of firsthand testimony recorded by the USC Shoah Foundation, this powerful memoir traces Edna’s extraordinary journey—from the ashes of a shattered birthday celebration to the brutal reality of a POW camp, and from escaping the Warsaw Ghetto to finding hidden safety inside a convent sanctuary.

Edna Szurek should not have survived the Holocaust. But she did. And her story will stay with you forever.

Janet Bond Brill

Janet Bond Brill was born and raised in New York City, the daughter of a prominent stage and screen actor and a psychoanalyst. After graduating from Walden School at sixteen and earning her B.S. in Biology from the University of Miami, she spent seven years as a flight attendant for Pan American World Airways before returning to academia.

Dr. Brill holds a Ph.D. in Exercise Science from the University of Miami, along with two master’s degrees—one in Exercise Science from the University of Miami and another in Nutrition Science from Florida International University.

She is the author of four nationally recognized health books, including Cholesterol Down and Blood Pressure Down, published by Random House, as well as numerous scientific papers and articles for general audiences.

Take a look at the rest of the Fearless Women, Powerful Stories Virtual Series: https://www.jccbuffalo.org/cover-to-cover/