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

Grunwald-Spier, Agnes

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0752457063 ISBN 13: 9780752457062

Publisher: The History Press, 2010

Synopsis

Thanks to Thomas Keneally's book Schindler's Ark, and the film based on it, Schindler's List, we 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 6 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 honoured by 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 together the stories of thirty individuals who rescued Jews, and these provide a new insight into why these people were prepared to risk so much for their fellow men and women. With a foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert, 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. 'Unfortunately, to kill thousands of people only a few men with machine guns are needed, and they do not risk anything except their souls. Saving of just one man involved exceptional devotion, undescribable courage of many people, and they were risking not only their lives, but also those of their children.' Irena Veisaite 'Unfortunately, to kill thousands of people only a few men with machine guns are needed, and they do not risk anything except their souls. Saving of just one man involved exceptional devotion, undescribable courage of many people, and they were risking not only their lives, but also those of their children.' Irena Veisaite 'Unfortunately, to kill thousands of people only a few men with machine guns are needed, and they do not risk anything except their souls. Saving of just one man involved exceptional devotion, undescribable courage of many people, and they were risking not only their lives, but also those of their children.' Irena Veisaite

About this title

Review:

Agnes Grunwald-Spier owes her life to someone she has never met. As a baby, she was lucky enough to be saved from death by an unknown Nazi official... I have no means of knowing who that official was and what his motives were. But it is chilling to think that but for his actions, on arrival at Auschwitz I would have been tossed into the fires with other babies. --The Jewish Chronicle, 18th June 2010

...moving stories of non-Jews...who braved torture and death to save Jews from the Nazis. The author, an expert on the Holocaust saved as a baby from being sent to Aushwitz death camp, has produced a concise book on many of those who risked everything to save people targeted by the Germans. --Western Daily Press

Saviours' backgrounds, motives and methods are fascinatingly mixed: one, brought up to be a Good Samaritan, managed to marry six Jewish women in concentration camps, entitling them to visas to leave occupied Europe for the US. --Newcastle Upon Tyne Evening Chronicle

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. A former civil servant, she holds degrees in History & Politics and Holocaust Studies, and is a trustee of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a member of the Architects' Registration Board and a Justice of the Peace. She divides her time between Sheffield and London.

About this edition

• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0752457063
• ISBN 13: 9780752457062
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 228