Defying the Tide: An Account of Authentic Compassion During the Holocaust - Hardcover

Abraham, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1930143710 ISBN 13: 9781930143715

Publisher: Devora Publishing Company, 2003

Synopsis

Ruth Abraham and Maria Nickel would never have met each other if it hadn't been for the Shoah. But when Hitler turned Germany into a cauldron of anti- Semitism, Maria Nickel decided that morality and ethics were more important than even life itself. This story of unbridled compassion made world headlines in May, 2000 in Berlin, Germany when Ruth, then 87 and recovering from heart bypass surgery, met her friend Maria, 90, for the last time. In 1942 Ruth, eight months pregnant, and on her way to certain death, was stopped by a German woman in a gray coat who offered her food, saying, Take this. It's the Christmas rations for Germans. I can't have Christmas with my family knowing that you are carrying a baby and don't have enough to eat. Their long and arduous journey together reached its climax when Maria and her husband gave their identity papers to Ruth and Walter and with it the precious gift of life. Reha Sokolow, the daughter of Ruth and Walter, tells the story of her parents' escape from death using the voice of both Maria and Ruth so that the reader begins to understand the many levels of fear, trepidation, and love that was an integral part of the lives of both the savior and the saved.

About this title

Review

The relationship of a Jewish and Aryan family, as seen through the eyes of each party, gives a different perspective to their common experiences. 2) Reveals the compassion of a German family as they sought to protect the Jewish family from the Nazis. 3) Includes the meeting of the two main characters fifty years later, in Germany, and describes this media event that was featured in all the German and Israeli newspapers, as well as the Jewish media in the U.S.

Synopsis

The true, first person account of Ruth, a Jewish woman being hunted by the Nazis, and her guardian angel, Maria, a German woman willing to risk her life and the lives of her family to save her. These two characters reveal, in their own words, how the flickering embers of human compassion and menschlichkeit were able to transcend the artificial barriers of race, creed and religion even during the Holocaust. Includes the reunion of the two women fifty years later in Germany, and describes this media event that was featured in the German and Israeli newspapers, as well as the Jewish media in the United States.

Edition details

• Publisher: Devora Publishing Company
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1930143710
• ISBN 13: 9781930143715
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 180