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The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage

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"Give till it hurts" and "Give as good as you've got" was the creed my grandmother and my mother taught their children, and that permeated their own lives. This book is about Dutch people who lived this creed in dire circumstances, so dire the world had never imagined them before. It gives us the words and motivations of 10 of the luminous people who surely redeemed some bit of the evils of the Holocaust. The author is a skilled interviewer and gifted storyteller, a man who looks at truth straight on. His book is an easy read, an illuminating inspiration, an unusual penetration of the good in human hearts. It ends with a thoughtful analysis of victim and perpetrator of true evil, and those who intervened. It's an outstanding achievement! I look forward to hearing about the awards it's sure to receive.

In a world where "if it bleeds it leads," we come to think news=disaster and war=history. Cheers for a book that shines the spotlight on persons of extraordinary virtue. This book celebrates individuals who rescued Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. And addresses that essential question: how can one person make a difference?

All of these heroes risked death, torture and ruin to help strangers. Even after reading these accounts, I am boggled by their altruism. Klempner refers to the Judaic myth of the righteous individuals whose goodness holds up the world. That metaphor communicates just how significant these stories are for us all.

Klempner avoids pat explanations. He lets the rescuers tell their stories in their own ways, giving their own rationales. He separates out his own personal history, which is a story in its own right. And also separates out some fine short essays that place the material in a historical context.

The narratives are not homogenized into a smooth package. Think of these gems as displayed in their natural state, not cut and mounted. Which preserves the authenticity of the historical record.

For students of history and ethics, these stories offer a springboard to discussion and further research. While not lengthy, this book packs some highly concentrated food for thought in its brown wrapper.

"Why?" This is the question I'm often left with after reading about Holocaust rescuers. They often seem far above ordinary humans, out of the sphere of people like me - but not in this book. The Heart Has Reasons shows rescuers in the context of their lives, as people who have learned to perceive, evaluate, and think for themselves. In the words of one of them, they do "not accept oversimplified answers". Their cultural and life histories helped them see everyone as equally human with themselves. Their answers, direct or indirect, to the question of why they helped the Jews invariably return to these ideas and often describe a journey of very small beginnings. In demystifying these Dutch rescuers, Klempner in no way diminishes them or their achievements. Indeed, their nobility is increased, as they become realistic examples of what ordinary people can do to change history. In letting the rescuers tell their own stories, interspersed with historical perspective and philosophical and personal commentary, Klempner effectively shows us the traits we must nurture in all children. A true storyteller, he lets his subject dictate its form. As we get to know the rescuers, we start with the usual question and end up each time with, perhaps, the only answer that can prevent other Holocausts.

The Heart Has Reasons was a surprise to me. The stories in this book are, in my opinion, less about the specific place in history that they occurred, but rather more about what we as human beings are capable of.

Before reading this book, I was not terribly informed about the situation and climate of Holland during the rise of the Germans prior to and during WWII. These stories remind us that the worst of human behavior, the most absolute and utter evil, is balanced by the best that humanity has to offer. These are people who risked everything to try, in some small way, to combat the horror they saw. They did it without reward or recognition. It's important to be reminded of what people just like us are able to do; the world we live in today is no different.

Mr. Klempner lets the reader inside the lives of these rescuers as well as his own. I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it highly.

Once in a while I regret having retired from teaching. After reading "The Heart Has Reasons", I felt that stirring again. What a wonderful, inspirational book! It ought to be required reading for high school Social Studies or English classes. Book clubs will have a field day--there are so many levels of possible discussion.

There are three aspects to the book: the rescuers' stories, the author's personal journey, and the extension of the lives of the rescuers after WWII. I think this threefold nature is what distinguishes Klempner's book from most other Holocaust literature.

The depiction of the author's changes in himself is a clear, individual demonstration of the power of ideas to transform lives. The rescuers lived lives after the Holocaust and we are privileged to follow their journeys as well. Klempner's prose is clear and graceful, his assessment skills excellent, and his integration of the three aspects of the book are logical and seamless.

Mark Klempner, at one time a Los Angeles session musician beset with a spiritual crisis, eventually decided to return to graduate school where he became interested in exploring the Dutch response to the Holocaust. His nine years of painstaking research have come to fruition with the publishing of 'The Heart Has Reasons.'

There is no way round the fact that the Holocaust is perhaps the darkest event in all of human history. In studying it, you must be prepared for heartbreak, for tears and for deep anger. These aren't emotions that most of us wish to confront--at least not very often.

But there are stories that break out of the mold of such horror by recounting the humanity that somehow took hold of a few select individuals during that otherwise hopeless time. These are the Righteous Gentiles who endangered themselves and their families for an idea, a principle that human beings in need were worth helping. Everything in their world told them not to do it. Their very lives were at risk for violating rules against helping Jews. Yet they did it anyway. Why did they?

These simple, yet profound questions are what informs Mark Klempner's remarkable profile of four Dutch rescuers who saved Jews. This book also serves another critical role. Holocaust survivors and rescuers are dying out quickly. We must save their testimony about what happened and what they did. Otherwise, our memories will find a blank page where this heroism should be written.

The world owes Klempner a debt of gratitude for this profound work.

I didn't think I'd ever find a book to top the "The Hiding Place" in both poignancy and inspiration, but these stories by an amazing group of Dutch rescuers completely blew me away. As with Corrie ten Boom, some of them are devout Christians; others are not religious at all and it is fascinating in these times of sectarian strife to read how they all got along, united in a common goal of rescuing innocent lives. But what's equally fascinating are the rescuers' comments on our current problems: I never got to hear what Corrie ten Boom had to say about, for example, the war in Vietnam, but in this book the rescuers' speak their minds about all kinds of issues, and their words are both wise and profound. If only we'd listen to their voices! By the way, Klempner does a great job of trying to explain the rescuers in the concluding chapter, but, as he admits, this level of altruism is mysterious, and we'll never get to the bottom of it.

WOW! After reading the last word of, "The Heart has Reasons," I slowly closed the book, gazed searchingly at the cover, and clutched it to my chest. In that moment, I was hoping to burn into my being the founts of wisdom, courage, sacrifice, compassion, and tenacity that were exhibited by the Holocaust Dutch rescuers.

It was refreshing to read about everyday unselfish people who "chose" to act from their heart. It brings hope to mankind to realize that such depths of sacrifice existed in that dark time of history and even today, with God's help, may we also "act from the heart" as the need arises.

Mark Klempner does a great job of refocusing what is truly important in our fast-paced everyday living. I think anybody who reads this book will come away grateful for life and grateful to be shown what true living is really about.

Mark Klempner is a masterful storyteller. Although 'storyteller' may make you think of fiction, this story is not fiction. Mark has poignantly shared interviews with Dutch resisters and rescuers in a way that won't let you stop thinking about them. He asks big questions and gives important answers about learning from the righteous and from history.

Enhanced with an informative foreword by Christopher R. Browning, The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers And Their Stories Of Courage by folklorist and oral historian Mark Klempner is the account of how many valiant people worked at great personal peril through the Holocaust and Hitler's Reign to save Jewish children and others from being murdered in the Nazi death camps. Guiding readers through the epic and heroic tales of these Dutch rescuers, The Heart Has Reasons vividly recounts deeply terrifying efforts of ten gallantly individual experiences. Superbly presented and an important addition to the growing library of holocaust literature, The Heart Has Reasons is very highly recommended reading, especially for all historians and students of the Dutch involvement in World War II.