Joanne grew up in Jew­ish sub­urb of Detroit where every­one ​“knew” that the Jews had gone ​“silent­ly like sheep” and that Pol­ish Gen­tiles were either Nazi col­lab­o­ra­tors or bystanders. Influ­enced by her grand­moth­er’s sto­ries of the loved ones lost in the Vil­na Ghet­to and the rare, unrec­og­nized Gen­tiles who tried to help, Joanne’s mis­sion is to show that the Jews fought valiant­ly — and often suc­cess­ful­ly — and that both Jew­ish and Gen­tile women were an essen­tial com­po­nent of this fight.