The Other Schindlers: Why Some People Chose to Save Jews in the Holocaust

by Agnes Grunwald-Spier MBE, Sir Martin Gilbert (Foreword by)

Overview

The inspiring stories of courageous non-Jews who risked their own lives to save Jews from the Holocaust

Thanks to Thomas Keneally’s book Schindler's Ark, and the film based on it, Schindler's List, people have become more aware of the fact that, in the midst of Hitler's extermination of the Jews, courage and humanity could still overcome evil. While six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime, some were saved through the actions of non-Jews whose consciences would not allow them to pass by on the other side, and many are honored by Israel's official memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims, Yad Vashem, as "Righteous among the Nations" for their actions. As a baby, Agnes Grunwald-Spier was herself saved from the horrors of Auschwitz by an unknown official, and is now a trustee of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. She has collected the stories of 30 individuals who rescued Jews, providing a new insight into why these people were prepared to risk so much for their fellow men and women. With a foreword by one of the leading experts on the subject, this is an ultimately uplifting account of how some good deeds really do shine in a weary world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780752459677
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	11/01/2011
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Agnes Grunwald-Spier was born in Budapest in July 1944. She and her mother were sent to the ghetto there in November 1944, and were liberated in January 1945. She is a Justice of the Peace. Sir Martin Gilbert is a historian and the author of more than 80 books, including The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War and The Story of Israel

Table of Contents

Foreword 7

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 13

1 Rescuers with Religious Motives 21

2 Rescuers with Humanitarian Motives 63

3 Rescuers with Other Motives 101

Conclusions 146

Appendix I Righteous Among the Nations & Yad Vashem 184

Appendix II Tables

Table 1 Details of Rescuers and Informants 186

Table 2 Righteous Among the Nations and National Populations 190

Table 3 Details of Rescuers and Rescued 192

Notes 198

Bibliography 216

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

"Provides new insight into why these people were willing to risk so much to help the most vulnerable. . . . from their heroic actions we can learn the full resonance of the human spirit . . . an inspiring book that helps us piece together a portrait of the examplars of moral courage during the Holocaust and their motivations." —Jewish Book World

From the Publisher