SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - At the beginning of the summer of 2026, in Sacramento’s Greenhaven/Pocket neighborhood, Jane Gallagher began contacting friends by email. Her message was:

“I hope you can help my brother and me launch ‘Janina’s War: How a Teenager Survived Nazis, the Resistance, and the Most Horrific War on Earth,’ written by Jalynn Venis (our cousin).

“Janina was our mother, and a hero, along with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, who survived. I know you’ll find her story amazing and inspiring.

“It was our mother’s greatest wish that this story would be told! After almost 15 years of compiling our mother’s story, Kevin, my brother, and I are happy to send this first notice for the book launch.”

Near the end of World War II, Janina met Charles Clark, a United States soldier. Janina and Charles married soon after the war ended in Germany.

Their daughter, Jane, has photographs from their wedding. One photograph shows a mother and two children. The mother loaned Janina her wedding dress for the ceremony. The children served as the flower girl and ring bearer.

Janina and Charles spent several months in Europe before moving to Summitville, Indiana. Charles’ mother, Dora, was determined to teach Janina everything she needed to know to live in the United States, and the two became very close.

Jane said, “My mother studied hard to become a U.S. citizen.”

Jane also said, “Mom was pregnant with me on the ship coming to America. I think she arrived in November of 1946, and I was born in 1947.”

“Janina’s War: How a Teenager Survived Nazis, the Resistance, and the Most Horrific War on Earth” is based on the true story of Janina Korzeniewska and was written by Jalynn Venis.

The premise of the book is: “WHEN EVIL APPEARS, HEROES RISE.”

Heroic girls grow into courageous women.

It is Warsaw, Poland, 1939.

As bombs fall, Janina runs from her school into a city filled with terror. People scream and hit the ground with each explosion. She ducks into the Polonia Hotel and is immediately captured by the Germans.

Captain Schafer is put in charge of the Officers’ Club in Warsaw and quickly becomes infatuated with Janina. He forces her to deliver stolen valuables from hotel guests to German headquarters by train. 

But the bags of jewels, money and furs never arrive at their destination.

Janina’s War is the amazing true story of Janina Korzeniewska, a 17-year-old girl when World War II begins in Warsaw. Captured by the Nazis several times between 1939 and 1945, she always finds a way to escape.

During the early years of the war, she worked with family members in the Polish Resistance to help free Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto and hide them at the family farm. 

As a captive, she helps other prisoners escape from German soldiers as they struggle to break away from their violent oppressors.

Inspired by a family of true heroes, “Janina’s War” illustrates what one young woman can do when guided by her wit, courage and undaunted spirit to survive captivity, labor camps, and the horrors of an evil dictator and his brutal war machine.

Janina wanted to get a job as an interpreter with the Germans so she could obtain information for the Resistance. 

But as she left the restroom, she heard Captain Schafer over the stage microphone say, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the lovely Janina, the song chanteuse of the Officers’ Club!”

“The lights dimmed as Janina walked up the steps to the stage. A spotlight hit Hans’ fingers as they played the intro to Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” A second light illuminated Janina as she stepped up to the microphone and sang Porter’s most famous song. Janina was the closest thing to a diva these military men had seen in months. From the moment she opened her mouth to sing, she grew stronger and more self-assured with every word. Hans played as if he’d been accompanying Janina for years, and his joy rang out in each chord.”

Eighty-seven years later, Janina’s daughter Jane is still a “chanteuse,” or cabaret performer, in Sacramento’s nightlife. She is especially proud to sing Cole Porter’s classic songs.

Charles and Janina lived long and contented lives in Indiana and raised two children. Janina was born on Jan. 3, 1922, and passed away on Oct. 5, 2019, at age 97.