Hinda was born in 1910 in Suwałki, Poland, to Fruma and Naphtali. During World War I, she and her parents wandered to Russia, where they lived lives of poverty and deprivation. The family then returned to Suwałki, where Hinda studied in the Hebrew Gymnasium.
In 1928, when Beitar was founded in Suwałki, she joined and was the head of a group of young women and part of the cell command staff. She took part in the first Beitar conference in Warsaw in 1930. After she was orphaned, she went to Russia to her brother, but shortly afterwards she returned to Suwałki, working as a nurse in the Jewish hospital. At age sixteen, she met David Stern, whom she would eventually marry. In 1934, when Avraham (Yair), David’s brother, arrived for a visit to Suwałki, they became close friends, and she helped him a great deal with illegal aliyah. Their special friendship was expressed in many letters which he wrote her, some of which were published in the book Letters to Roni.
In summer 1935, Hinda and David married and made aliyah, arriving in September with Beitar members. They joined the recruitment company of Beitar in Herzliya. As requested by Yair, her brother-in-law, Hinda brought, as part of her personal baggage, three suitcases filled with new weapons for the IZL.
In 1937, after they had finished serving in the recruitment company, Hinda and David moved to Tel Aviv, and they shared an apartment with Yair and Roni Stern. When Yair was held in Tzrifin and Mizra, Hinda was accustomed to visit him with David and Roni. After the split in summer 1940, when Yair had to look for places to hide, Hinda helped him find a roof to put over his head and made sure he had all he needed. She also was his courier.
She (who was then pregnant), David and Hadassah Leah were the only ones to attend Yair’s funeral. After the murder, the CID returned the documents which were on his desk at the time of the murder, including his last song.
Hinda took excellent care of Hadassah Leah, mother of Yair and David, who arrived in the Land of Israel after much travail in 1941. She passed away in 1946.
The Stern home was open to all Lehi members, and sometimes underground courses were held there. They also hid Yair’s manuscripts and songs.
After the establishment of the State, an organization was founded to commemorate Lehi’s fallen. Hinda was behind the initiative to set up a scholarship fund in the name of Avraham Stern-Yair, and she donated the money required for it.
She raised their two children, Amira and Avraham, with dedication. Young Yair as well, son of Yair, lived in her house for the last years of his high school education, until he finished university.
Hinda was a modest and noble person, with a heart which was always open for the sick and needy, until her dying day.
She passed away on 27 Kislev 5746, 10.12.1985.