Join the National Jewish Book Award-winning author of The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, Dr. David Fishman, as he shares insights about the research that founded the exhibit of the same name. In addition to outlining how he dove into the mysteries and marvels of this particular history, Dr. Fishman will also share his thoughts about the significance of cultural preservation and how the work of historians contributes to the maintenance of heritage. Incredible insights, touching anecdotes, and details that can only be discovered well behind the scenes of the exhibit will give depth and meaning to all in attendance.

The Book Smugglers is the nearly unbelievable story of ghetto residents who rescued thousands of rare books and manuscripts—first from the Nazis and then from the Soviets—by hiding them on their bodies, burying them in bunkers, and smuggling them across borders. It is a tale of heroism and resistance, of friendship and romance, and of unwavering devotion—including the readiness to risk one’s life—to literature and art. And it is entirely true.

Based on Jewish, German, and Soviet documents, including diaries, letters, memoirs, and the author’s interviews with several of the story’s participants, The Book Smugglers chronicles the daring activities of a group of poets turned partisans and scholars turned smugglers in Vilna, “The Jerusalem of Lithuania.”