“[A] shining example of what can result when difficult and deeply troubling personal histories are placed into the hands of skillful and careful storytellers. … A captivating and moving coming of age story, Warsaw Is My Country traces the intersections of Polish and Jewish histories of the Second World War through the eyes of a young, real life heroine.” —Michal Wilczewski, H-Poland

“Krystyna Bierzynska is a Holocaust survivor par excellence. Born in Warsaw in 1928, the daughter of assimilated Polish Jews who perished during the six-year German occupation of Poland, she managed to leave the Polish capital as Jews were being herded into the doomed Nazi ghetto. In 1944, as a member of the underground Home Army, she participated in the failed Warsaw rebellion against the Germans. Five years ago, on the 70th anniversary of that revolt, she agreed to be interviewed by Beth Holmgren, a professor of Slavic Studies at Duke University. Holmgren’s book, Warsaw Is My Country: The Story of Krystyna Bierzynska, 1928-1945 (Academic Studies Press), is wide-ranging in scope and sometimes deeply emotional.” —Sheldon Kirshner, The Times of Israel

Elwira M. Grossman:
“This is a fascinating read as well as an outstanding addition to syllabi for courses in history, gender, identity, and memory studies, making also a notable contribution to the theme of ‘reading and writing cities,’ as Bierzyńska’s story situates the city of Warsaw in its very center. … Apart from being a needed monument to the much ignored female heroism in Poland’s war struggles, the book testifies to the remarkable richness and complexities of Polish Jews’ double identities, rendering impossible any simplistic affinity towards one ethnic group over the other. As such, the book should be considered a ‘must have’ for any American or European library.” —Elwira M. Grossman, University of Glasgow, Slavic and East European Journal Vol. 62.3

“A beautiful and unusual book, Beth Holmgren’s account of Krystyna Bierzyńska’s youth in cosmopolitan Warsaw before WWII and her experience during the war, including her efforts as a sixteen-year-old participant in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, sparkles with empathy, historical sophistication, and humanity. Based on extensive interviews with the protagonist herself and richly interspersed with relevant material from other published sources, Holmgren’s narrative demonstrates the complex place of the daughter of affluent acculturated Jews, whose belief that she could be a proud Varsovian, patriotic Pole, and citizen of the world faced extreme challenges during the war, but ultimately proved true."

"Krystyna Bierzyńska’s journey through the horrors of war and Holocaust may not be in itself unusual, but in the hands of a skilled storyteller and scholar it becomes a remarkable exploration of Polish Jews’ survival, resistance, and ordinary life. From a spirited, exuberant life, Beth Holmgren has crafted a moving tale of Poland’s twentieth century."