Regina Fudem
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Regina Fudem | |
|---|---|
רעגינע פֿודעם | |
 | |
| Born | 1922 |
| Died | 1943 (aged 20–21) |
| Organization | Jewish Combat Organisation |
| Known for | Rescuing 40 people during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising |
| Honours | Order of Virtuti Militari |
Regina Fudem (Yiddish: רעגינע פֿודעם; 1922–1943), also known by the code name Lilit, was a Polish Jewish activist. She was known for her participation in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in which she helped rescue at least 40 people before being killed.
Fudem was born in 1922 into a poor Jewish family living in Warsaw, to Szyja Fudem, a tailor, and his wife, Jochwet (née Chwat); she had five brothers and one sister.[1] Fudem completed four years of high school before beginning work.[2] In 1937, she joined the Zionist youth organisation Hashomer Hatzair.[3][4]
Fudem's name is often misspelled as "Fuden" due to a typological error that was subsequently repeated multiple times.[5]
Participation in the Jewish resistance
In 1940, Fudem and her family were forcibly resettled into the Warsaw Ghetto. There, she participated in cultural activities, including acting in a Hebrew drama club. Fudem also started participated in underground activities as a member of the Jewish Combat Organisation (ŻOB), where she used the code name Lilit.[4][6] The ŻOB was founded in October 1942, and aimed to better organise the Jewish resistance and prevent further deporations and protect the Jewish population of Poland.[7] She maintained contact between the ghetto and the Polish underground movement. Historian and Holocaust survivor Izrael Gutman later described Fudem in his autobiography as being one of the oldest and most experienced of the ŻOB's couriers.[8]
In 1942, Fudem's entire family was deported from the ghetto to Treblinka extermination camp; her parents, grandparents, four of her brothers and her sister were murdered there. Fudem escaped the deportation by going into hiding. Her brother Leon became the sole member of the family to survive the Holocaust, and later testified about his family's experiences and fate at Yad Vashem.[9]
