Cywia & Rachela - They Resisted in the Warsaw Ghetto
On December 17, 2025, the Wiener Library hosted a special screening of the documentary film by Rafael Lewandowski, which examines the intertwined destinies of two women at the heart of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943.
As an introduction to the screening, a discussion (in English) was held with the participation of the director, R. Lewandowski; Dr. Sharon Geva, historian and gender studies scholar; and Dr. Anna Zielinska, philosopher of science.
The film was selected for the Jewish Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque during Hanukkah 5786, and this screening marked its first showing in Israel outside the framework of the festival.
Cywia & Rachela
They Resisted in the Warsaw Ghetto
A film by Rafael Lewandowski (2024), 90 minutes.
French, Hebrew and Polish with English and Hebrew subtitles.
In the spring of 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising broke out. For several weeks, hundreds of Jewish underground fighters, equipped with the barest means of resistance, stood up against thousands of heavily armed SS forces.
Women played key roles in this uprising and in ghetto life that preceded it, among them Rachel (Rachela) Auerbach (1903–1976) and Cywia Lubetkin (1914–1978), the protagonists of this documentary. The film explores the nature, origins, course and consequences of the acts of resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Speakers (in English)
- Mr. Rafael Lewandowski, director of the film
- Dr. Sharon Geva, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of History, Kibbutzim College
- Dr. Anna Zielinska, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Lorraine (France), and Director of the European Association of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (AEMJP)
Organizers
The European Association of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (AEMJP)
The Institute for the History of Polish Jewry and Israel–Poland Relations, Tel Aviv University
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Nazi Era and the Holocaust, Tel Aviv University
Program
16:00 – Gathering and light refreshments
16:30 – Introductory discussion (in English): R. Lewandowski, Dr. Sharon Geva, Dr. Anna Zielinska
17:00–18:30 – Film screening
18:30–19:00 – Q&A and concluding remarks
