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Was born in 1927 in Chalkis, a small town near Athens, Greece. She never knew her father, who passed away when she was only two months old. They identified as 100% Greek, they also celebrated being Jewish by lighting candles every Friday and attending temple on holidays.

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Sara and her mother hid there in that village but after it was no longer safe for the Jews, they told Sara to escape, while the villagers agreed to hide her mother.

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Sara traveled from village to village to recruit other women willing to fight and formed a band of partisans who became indispensable to the male fighters, transforming the young villagers into women.

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When they had their first mission they were ordered to throw Molotov cocktails to distract the enemy and allow the partisans to attack, since the plan worked they were impressed by their skills and that was when the partisans invited the female group to join them on many missions, they burned houses, executed Nazi collaborators and helped the men like no other group of women had done before.

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Sara became a prominent and respected figure

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Sara became a prominent and respected figure

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Since she was 18, she was known as "Kapetenissa Sarika", since she was very well known, the Nazis sent an informant to try to capture her, but by mistake they arrested, raped and murdered her cousin Medi and Sara swore revenge and executed the informant.

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Sara Fortis led a unit of female partisans who fought in the resistance against Nazi Germany.

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Sara had a very clear purpose and that was to establish comparable national standards and streamline regulations, fees and approvals for institutions offering interstate distance education programs. That was Sara's purpose and in the end Sara became a prominent and respected figure of the andartes movement in Greece.

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She is a short, stocky girl with dark hair and blue eyes, she runs very fast, she can shoot a nut from a tree at 200 yards and her orders sound loud and clear, she goes singing along the mountain paths and she does it vibrantly and with pride.

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Until what year did she continue fighting?

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Until what year did she continue fighting?

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She continued fighting against the Germans until the liberation of Greece, then for the time being, Sara Fortis decided to continue fighting until 1944.

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Sara worked as a nurse at the beginning of the war and later fled her hometown to avoid the arrival of the Germans.

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Without the partisans, many Jews would have died or suffered the same fate as the Jews of Thessaloniki at Auschwitz. And they weren't the only ones; many Gentiles and many Greeks. They captured Greeks along with the Jews, those who helped them, and those who resisted; all of this was a very serious matter.

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Sara Fortis - The importance of the partisans

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Sara Fortis, center, in partisan uniform

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Sara Fortis, center, in partisan uniform

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Sara was wanted for her actions as a partisan and was arrested at the end of the war.

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Sara Fortis in partisan uniform. Date unknown.

Video still from interview, August 2004

Sara Fortis (born Sarika Yehoshua) was born in 1927 in Chalkis, a small town near Athens, Greece. She never knew her father, who passed away when she was only two months old. Sara and her sister were raised by their mother and they enjoyed a happy childhood. Although they identified as 100% Greek, they also celebrated being Jewish by lighting candles every Friday and attending temple on holidays.

Sara knew it was time to leave her hometown when the Germans arrived in 1941. She had heard about Jews in other small Greek towns being deported by the Nazis and never returning. Sara and her mother escaped to the small village of Kuturla and hid there for a short while. When it was no longer safe for Jews, Sara was told to escape while the villagers agreed to hide her mother. Leaving her mother, Sara decided to become an andarte ( resistance fighter). Wanting to play a significant role in the group, she traveled from village to village to recruit other females who wanted to fight.

Sara formed a band of female partisans that became indispensable to the male fighters, transforming young village girls into women. On their first mission, they were ordered to throw Molotov cocktails to distract the enemy and allow the partisans to attack. Impressed by their skills, the male partisans invited the all-female group to join in many missions. They burned down houses, executed Nazi collaborators, and aided the men in a way no group of females had before. The male andartes were given credit for many missions the women completed, as it was unfathomable that women could accomplish such acts. Often, the women were forced to sleep next to the men, and Sara constantly worried about the women's safety.

Sara became a prominent and well-respected figure in the andartes movement in Greece. By age 18, she was known as 'Kapetenissa [Captain] Sarika.' The Nazis sent an informer to try and capture her, but mistakenly arrested, brutally raped, and murdered her cousin, Medi. Vowing revenge, she tracked down and executed the informer.

After the war, the andartes fell out of favor with the new Greek government. Sara was arrested but owing to her great reputation, she was released shortly after. She then immigrated to Israel, where she met her husband and settled down.

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Born Sarika Yehoshua in 1927 in Chalkis, Greece, Sara Fortis went from village to village recruiting women who wanted to fight. She organized a band of all-female partisans, training young women to become bold fighters. They burned down houses, executed Nazi collaborators, and aided the Greek partisan movement in a way no group of females had before.