Anna Heilman

Anna Heilman, born Hana Wajcblum, was a Jewish Resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor. Born in 1928, she played a significant role in a plot to blow up the crematoria at Auschwitz, one of the most notorious concentration camps during World War II. Heilman, along with her sister Estusia and other female prisoners, was involved in smuggling gunpowder out of the Union munitions factory where they were forced to work.

The gunpowder was then secretly passed from person to person until it reached the Sonderkommando, a group of prisoners tasked with operating the crematoria. Heilman's bravery and determination were part of a larger effort that included several other women, such as Roza Robota, Ala Gertner, and Regina Safirsztajn, among others. Heilman survived the Holocaust and lived until 2011, her legacy as a resistance fighter and survivor a testament to the courage and resilience of those who fought against oppression during one of the darkest periods in human history.