Product Description

The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust

Drawing from twenty-five years of original research, Sir Martin Gilbert re-creates the remarkable stories of non-Jews who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust

According to Jewish tradition, "Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved the entire world." Non-Jews who helped save Jewish lives during World War II are designated Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust archive in Jerusalem. In The Righteous, distinguished historian Sir Martin Gilbert, through extensive interviews, explores the courage of those who-throughout Germany and in every occupied country from Norway to Greece, from the Atlantic to the Baltic-took incredible risks to help Jews whose fate would have been sealed without them. Indeed, many lost their lives for their efforts.

Those who hid Jews included priests, nurses, teachers, neighbors and friends, employees and colleagues, soldiers and diplomats, and, above all, ordinary citizens. From Greek Orthodox Princess Alice of Greece, who hid Jews in her home in Athens, to the Ukrainian Uniate Archbishop of Lvov, who hid hundreds of Jews in his churches and monasteries, to Muslims in Bosnia and Albania, many risked, and lost, everything to help their fellow man.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #813012 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 560 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Books have been written about individuals who risked their own safety to aid Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. Yet this comprehensive examination by noted historian Gilbert (The First World War, etc.), recounted largely through first-person accounts by the Jews they rescued, is an important contribution. These thumbnail sketches of rescuers, their methods and, in some cases, the horrors they endured as a result of their courageous choices haven't previously been gathered in one volume. The result of 25 years of research sparked by witnessing Oskar Schindler's 1974 funeral procession in Jerusalem, Gilbert's country-by-country examination reveals as much about quiet dissent in Nazi-occupied Europe as it does about the human spirit. "For anyone who is honoured today for saving Jewish lives, there were ten or more who did the same," says one rescuer. In Vilna, a German officer, Maj. Karl Plagge, protected Jews from 1939 until 1944, by employing them in his Motor Vehicle Repair Park. In Germany, a young slave laborer, her feet frozen from working outdoors in the snow, was given a pair of shoes by an elderly couple in a remote wooded area; she never learned their names. The number of accounts is overwhelming, and fitting them all in one volume requires that each, to a degree, be given short shrift. But the very fact that there were so many tales of courage is reason to take heed of this heartening aspect of one of history's darkest moments. 32 pages of b&w photos, 20 maps.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Mining the extensive archives of Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Memorial Authority, along with memoirs and personal reminiscences, Gilbert (Univ. of London; The First World War) narrates the story of those gentiles acknowledged by Vashem as "Righteous Among the Nations." Why some people chose to perform heroic deeds during the Holocaust often varied according to local circumstances. One of the book's virtues is Gilbert's ability to set the local context briefly before recounting the personal stories, thus keeping the human dimension paramount. A major criticism of "rescue studies" is that rescuers were in the minority; clearly, had there been more righteous, there would have been more survivors. Although Gilbert acknowledges that the sheer weight of Nazi power, along with the depth of local collaboration, certainly ensured that the number of rescuers would remain small, he justly claims that this makes their acts all the more worthy of study. Interestingly, in the chapter on Italy, Gilbert avoids delving into the intense controversy about the role of the papacy. Although Gilbert provides some analysis of the rescuers' motivations, the book is more descriptive than analytical. Still, it is recommended for all libraries.
--Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The Holocaust was a dreary commentary on the human condition for more than just the obvious reason. While the horrifying savagery of those who carried out mass murder comes immediately to mind, the passive acquiescence of millions who stood by as their fellow citizens were abused and slaughtered is equally depressing. There were, however, "righteous Gentiles" (to use the Jewish term) who risked their lives to hide Jews or smuggle them to safety. Gilbert, best known for his biography of Churchill, shows that these courageous people came from all European social classes and ethnic groups. They included Catholic priests and nuns, Greek aristocrats, Polish villagers, and Bosnian Muslims. Many of them braved social ostracism, and some were betrayed and imprisoned for their efforts. On one level, this work is an uplifting tribute to the power of individuals willing to stand for common decency. Unfortunately, it also makes one acutely aware that most people, even those with humane instincts, did not take that stand. This emotionally stirring book is an essential addition to Holocaust collections. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

One of Gilbert's best
Martin Gilbert has written more on the Holocaust than, perhaps, anyone else. This, his latest work, is deserving of special praise. Gilbert looks at the many non-Jews who played personal roles in saving small and large numbers of Jews during WWII. He spends time discussing the better known saviors such as Schindler and Wallenberg, but he also looks to the lesser known people who risked their lives to save one or two at a time. He examines the many married couples who took in Jewish children and protected them as their own, and he looks at the many religious officials who hid children in convents and churches. Gilbert's examination of these relative unknowns is very good reading, and his detailed and painstaking research into so many people is obvious. This book is wonderful for so many reasons. It is an excellent history -- a history of a subject all too forgotten -- and it is a refreshing portrait of an otherwise horrible time in the history of mankind. These individual saviors stand out against a black background, and Gilbert's writing serves them justice and gives them the recognition they deserve.

So much to write, so little space
After attending a seminar on teaching the Holocaust, I needed a little inspiration, so I purchased this book, which recounts the stories of hundreds of Jews who were rescued by non-Jews during the course of the Holocaust. Each chapter addresses a different part of Europe and the rescues that took place within that region, mostly through first-person accounts. The stories are very compelling and show quite clearly how much people were willing to risk in order to do the right thing when so few were willing to do so. The downside to the book is that each story is probably worth a chapter on its own and not just a paragraph or two; however, since this is one of the few books I've seen that puts all of the stories together in one place, so it's a worthwhile trade. On the whole, a very good book--though it is depressing to think how few were ultimately willing to help out their neighbors and do what what right and decent.

Interesting topic, but a disjointed book lacking analysis
This book has gotten a lot of praise for its treatment of a subject that has been overlooked for too long. That being said, this book -- as a work of history -- has some serious flaws. It is a collection of anecdotes, lacking analysis.

Each chapter contains scores of tales and anecdotes of rescue. The author does little to link them up. He provides scant analysis contrasting his different anecdotes or establishing patterns of rescue (e.g. those who did it for money vs. those who acted out of religious belief or ideology, cities vs. villages, etc.). The chapters are arranged by country or geographical region of Europe, but there is hardly any discussion explaining why some countries had higher rates of rescue than others. It doesn't seem as if Gilbert has a working thesis that he wishes to defend through his evidence. Rather, it seems that he went to the Yad Vashem archive and collected as many interesting tales of rescue as he could find and then categorized them by country for his book.

Because it is filled with many, many interesting stories, this book will chiefly be of interest to "lay readers" or armchair historians with an interest in Holocaust studies. Professional historians and scholars of the Holocaust may use this book as a resource (esp. for teaching), but they will quickly stumble upon this book's limits.