Rescuers: Portraits in Moral Courage in the Holocaust

by Gay Block and Malka Drucker

Book Overview

A collection of true stories of courageous non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue victims of the Holocaust.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0841913234
• ISBN13: 9780841913233
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Holmes & Meier Publishers
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 9.0" x 10.9"
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 12

Customer Reviews

Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust

The thing I LOVE about this book (since it was first issued I have given at least 50 copies to young people as a gift) are the pictures of the rescuers then and now. The point of each true story is that ordinary people were suddenly thrust into extraordinary and fearsome times and they went out of their way to do the moral and very courageous thing to help rescue Jews. Sometimes the people were friends before hand and sometimes they were not. At least one time, the "saved" people were seemingly ungrateful out of their own fear and frustration. This act was personally dangerous and also dangerous for the families of the rescuers. Each rescuer made it clear that they had not thought twice about it at the time and that they had never expected to play such a role before it happened. These people were HEROES. Every story is deeply affecting. Sometimes there was reward at the end and sometimes not. Sometimes years of struggle followed.

True stories of moral courage and goodness

On the front cover of "Rescuers" are 12 photographs of some very nice looking people. They are pictures of people that you might meet every day; of friends and family, or someone that you might pass by on the street. They are the faces of very ordinary people, but they are also much more than that. They are the faces of people that risked their lives to save the lives of others during the Holocaust. They are the faces of the rescuers. There are many more photographs inside the book, of rescuers from countries all over Europe. Author Malka Drucker and photographer Gay Block interviewed and photographed the rescuers, seeking the heart of compassion and moral courage. They found that heart in men and women; the young and the old; and in people from all walks of life. Every story told by the rescuers is very moving. Some rescuers saved one person from death; some saved many thousands. All of the rescuers are worthy of the greatest respect and honor. The rescuers were sometimes asked the question of why they helped others to live, when so many other people stood by and did nothing. The rescuers would answer that question by saying that they were only doing what they knew was right. By caring for other people, they were acting the way that everyone should have been acting. One of the most inspiring truths found in the book, is the thought that we all have that same spark of goodness within our hearts, that was shown so nobly by the rescuers. We all have the capacity for doing what is right, even in times of the greatest fear and terror. This is a book that will warm your heart, and it is well worth reading.

A beautiful photo-interview essay on altruism...

This book is wonderfully formatted, arranged by geographic area of Europe. Each interview starts with black and white photos a person who helped Jews and other persecuted people during WWII. A personal narrative of that time in their lives follows, and each interview closes with a color photo of that person as they were in 1992 when the interviews were done. A complicated and moving picture of altruism emerges, and one gets a glimpse of how individuals chose to protect others at the risk of threat to themselves and their families.