The Righteous Among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust

The Holocaust is one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the world, claiming 11 million lives, of which 6 million were Jews. The atrocities of the Nazis and their willing conspirators are well-documented in numerous books and other publications, and bear testimony to man's inhumanity. However, there were also those who risked their lives to save Jews - these Gentiles came from all walks of life -lowly peasants, priests, young women, diplomats, wealthy industrialists and many more, all of whom were united in their goal to do the right thing, and to act according to the dictates of their faith and/or conscience. In this book, readers are introduced to 150 of these Righteous Among the Nations, and their compelling, heart-wrenching stories are presented in their full versions according to archived evidence kept in Yad Vashem. Many of these stories are accompanied by the B & W photograph of the rescuer/s, and told in as much detail as could be compiled - providing the background, conditions and the actual rescue effort itself. Some of the rescuers are familiar names - Oscar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, Sugihara, and others not so familiar but whose courageous acts are no less extraordinary. Reading these stories certainly had a profound impact on me, and some stories are so emotionally wrenching that I could not help but shed tears at the pain these people had to go through - some rescuers undertook the rescue of the Jews at great personal risk to themselves [for the penalty for helping Jews was frequently death], some saw their marriages crumble in the face of extreme duress, and of course, there is Raoul Wallenberg, who was imprisoned by the Soviets and who died in captivity. This is an amazing work - it's quite hard to come by works that are devoted to documenting the rescue efforts of Jews by Gentiles, and thus this is a significant body of work that merits recognition and deserves accolades. I highly recommend this work to all those who are keen on Holocaust history. Note: there is an extensive index at the end of the book, as well as a selected bibliography.