Regular visitors to Linda’s Book Bag will have noticed far fewer ‘staying in’ posts of late, as I am still assessing how I might go forward with my blogging, but as today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day I simply had to invite Dr. Janet Bond Brill to the blog today to tell me about her latest book.

Let’s find out more:

Staying in With Dr. Janet Bond Brill

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag, Janet. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought Little Edna’s War, publishing today January 27, 2026, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Happy publication day! What is Little Edna’s War about?

It’s the true story of my mother-in-law, Edna Stefania Brill, who became the youngest decorated soldier in the Polish Home Army at age ten. I knew and loved her for thirty-seven years of my life before I understood her story needed to be preserved. She passed away in 2019, and this memoir is my promise kept.

Having recently lost my own mother, Janet, I imagine that keeping that promise feels very emotional. What can we expect from an evening in with Little Edna’s War?

This is a WWII survival story told through a child’s eyes. At four, Edna hid under a table as Nazi bombs destroyed a friend’s birthday party. At seven, she smuggled food through the ghetto wall to keep her family alive. She and her sister escaped to the Aryan side before the deportations began, living under false identities as Polish Catholic orphans. At nine, still disguised, she joined the Polish resistance under the nom de guerre “KAJTEK.” She ran messages through sniper fire during the Warsaw Uprising and was wounded by a grenade. On her tenth birthday, as the Home Army surrendered, she received two military decorations. Her disguise was so complete that Pope Pius XII later decorated her as a Catholic war hero, never knowing she was Jewish.

My goodness! What a remarkable girl. No wonder you felt the need to tell her story.

What else have you brought along and why?

I’ve brought a photograph of Edna and her sister Miriam. You cannot tell Edna’s story without Miriam. Six years older, she became mother, protector, and guardian angel in one. Through the ghetto, the false identities, the smuggling, the uprising, the POW camps, every step of survival they took together. Miriam taught Edna how to cross herself, how to recite Catholic prayers flawlessly, how to bury everything Jewish so deep it couldn’t slip out even in sleep. When a Nazi soldier tried to assault nine-year-old Edna, fifteen-year-old Miriam offered herself instead.

Edna and Miriam on Miriam’s wedding day, just after the war ended

They both survived the war. But survival takes different tolls on different souls. In 1978, in Tel Aviv, Miriam couldn’t carry the weight anymore. She took her own life.

That’s absolutely tragic. How was Edna affected? 

Edna understood. Her life had been purchased with her sister’s pain. So she lived it fully, for both of them. She built a life in Israel, married, came to America, and created an extraordinary life filled with happiness, love, and joy. At its heart, this is a story about two sisters, about defiance, and about a nine-year-old girl who fought back, helped defeat evil, and built a beautiful life from the ashes. Today, three generations carry her legacy forward.

Edna and her husband Harry at their 50th wedding anniversary gala

It’s been my absolute pleasure to learn about Edna. Thank you so much for telling me about her and about Little Edna’s War.

Little Edna’s War

They tried to erase her.

Instead, she became a legend.

At just seven years old, Edna Szurek risked everything to smuggle food through holes in the Warsaw Ghetto wall, knowing each step could be her last. By the age of 10, she was the youngest decorated member of the Polish resistance. And by the end of the war, she had defied every Nazi plan for her destruction.

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 over five hours of her firsthand testimony recorded by the USC Shoah Foundation, this powerful memoir traces Edna’s impossible journey: from the ashes of a shattered birthday celebration to the brutal reality of a POW camp, escaping the deadly confines of the Warsaw Ghetto to find the hidden safety of a convent sanctuary.

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

Published by Amsterdam Publishers today, 27th January 2026, Little Edna’s War is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

About Dr. Janet Brill

 

Dr. Janet Brill is a bestselling author of health and nutrition books including Cholesterol Down and Blood Pressure Down. Little Edna’s War is her first memoir, drawn from over five hours of Shoah Foundation testimony, her brother-in-law’s testimony, tapes of Edna’s presentations, and thirty-seven years of personal conversations. Dr. Michael Berenbaum, former Project Director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, wrote the foreword. She holds a PhD in Exercise Science.

For further information, visit Janet’s website. You can also find Janet on Facebook, and Instagram.