Biography
Paula Biren (1922–2016) was a Holocaust survivor who appeared as herself in Claude Lanzmann’s documentary Shoah (1985). She was interviewed at length by Lanzmann in the winter of 1978–1979 in Florida, and excerpts from that testimony were included in the film.
Born Pawa Sara Szmajer in Łódź, Poland, Biren lived in the Łódź ghetto from 1940 until her deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau in August 1944. Her account, later released in full as the segment “Baluty” in Shoah: The Four Sisters (2018), describes her experiences in the ghetto, including her role in the Jewish women’s police force, and her subsequent survival.
