Jews Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust
The B’nai B’rith World Center and the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jewish Rescuers During the Holocaust have released a new 40-page monograph on the phenomenon of Jews who endangered their lives in Germany and occupied Europe to rescue fellow Jews from the rise of Nazism until VE Day, or risked their lives to rescue Jewish children in Europe immediately after the war.
The publication includes an extensive introductory chapter, chapters on the extensive Jewish rescue networks that operated in Hungary, France and Belgium and individual accounts of heroism by 12 recipients of the Jewish Rescuers Citation, awarded since 2011 to 330 individuals. The publication, compiled and edited by World Center director Alan Schneider and Committee members Yuval Alpan, Noa Gidron and Chana Arnon, opens with the following paragraph:
“For many years, the historiography of the Holocaust tended to present Jews only as victims. This trend began to change some two decades ago, and many studies have since examined the daily lives of Jews during the Holocaust as they grappled with the deteriorating reality around them, and different types of Jewish resistance. While the Germans and their collaborators attempted to methodically annihilate European Jewry, many Jews resisted the grim fate that awaited them. Hundreds of thousands of Jews fought in the Allied armies and in the ranks of the partisans, revolted in ghettos and led uprisings in extermination camps. One largely downplayed phenomenon of Jewish heroism in the Holocaust is that of Jews who rescued fellow Jews while exposing themselves to great danger. Recent research shows that the rescue of Jews by Jews during the Holocaust had been a much wider phenomenon than what was known until now.”
The World Center undertakes many activities to memorialize the Jewish rescuers, including a unique annual event on Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day in partnership with the Jewish National Fund, held at the B’nai B’rith Martyrs forest. The publication is available from the B’nai B’rith World Center (worldcenter@012.net.il) or can be downloaded here.
The publication includes an extensive introductory chapter, chapters on the extensive Jewish rescue networks that operated in Hungary, France and Belgium and individual accounts of heroism by 12 recipients of the Jewish Rescuers Citation, awarded since 2011 to 330 individuals. The publication, compiled and edited by World Center director Alan Schneider and Committee members Yuval Alpan, Noa Gidron and Chana Arnon, opens with the following paragraph:
“For many years, the historiography of the Holocaust tended to present Jews only as victims. This trend began to change some two decades ago, and many studies have since examined the daily lives of Jews during the Holocaust as they grappled with the deteriorating reality around them, and different types of Jewish resistance. While the Germans and their collaborators attempted to methodically annihilate European Jewry, many Jews resisted the grim fate that awaited them. Hundreds of thousands of Jews fought in the Allied armies and in the ranks of the partisans, revolted in ghettos and led uprisings in extermination camps. One largely downplayed phenomenon of Jewish heroism in the Holocaust is that of Jews who rescued fellow Jews while exposing themselves to great danger. Recent research shows that the rescue of Jews by Jews during the Holocaust had been a much wider phenomenon than what was known until now.”
The World Center undertakes many activities to memorialize the Jewish rescuers, including a unique annual event on Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day in partnership with the Jewish National Fund, held at the B’nai B’rith Martyrs forest. The publication is available from the B’nai B’rith World Center (worldcenter@012.net.il) or can be downloaded here.
