As part of the Wright Museum’s ongoing lecture series, sponsored by Ron Goodgame and Donna Canney, Joanne D. Gilbert, author of Women of Valor: Polish Jewish Resistors to the Third Reich, will virtually present Women of Valor on Tuesday May 11 at 7:00 pm.
Initially inspired by her grandmother’s escape from Nazi-occupied Lithuania, Women of Valor spotlights the efforts of four women during the rise of the Third Reich, and the ways they fought back against it. “I cherished my Grandmother’s stories and in her honor became determined to find and chronicle the stories of other Holocaust victims, survivors, and descendants,” explained Gilbert, citing her grandmother’s childhood stories before the war.
For Gilbert, Women of Valor allows previously unrecognized narratives of wartime heroines to be heard for the first time, and for her to honor her grandmother’s life as well. “The lessons of [Women of Valor] are especially important and urgent today as we see the rise of fascism and the absolute necessity of stopping it,” she said. “As Anne Frank said, ‘See how the light of a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.’ Each of us must be a light.”
Made possible by the generosity of Ron Goodgame and Donna Canney, the 2021 Lecture Series takes place every Tuesday through the end of the museum’s season, which concludes Oct. 31. Admission for this virtual lecture is complimentary. To register for Women of Valor: Polish Jewish Resistors to the Third Reich, which takes place between 7:00 and 8:00 pm on Tuesday, May 11, visit The Wright’s Facebook page, or call 603-569-1212. A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants on the day of the event.
The region’s leading resource for educators and learners of all ages on World War II, the Wright Museum features more than 14,000 items in its collection that are representative of both the homefront and battlefield.
