Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust [Paperback]

Gay Block (Author), Malka Drucker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

A welcome addition to Holocaust literature, this work presents a series of 49 personal reminiscences of non-Jewish citizens in various European nations who risked their lives to hide resident Jews from the Nazi horror. Most of those interviewed felt their actions were done out of friendship and for people caught in a web of hatred and anti-Semitism. They did not feel that they were acting heroically but that they were doing what was right. Portraits by Block of each of the rescuers accompany the text. These 49 are representative of the 9,295 rescuers honoured at the Yad Vashem in Israel. This is recommended reading for general readers as well as for college and university libraries.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A welcome addition to Holocaust literature, this work presents a series of 49 personal reminiscences of non-Jewish citizens in various European nations who risked their lives to hide resident Jews from the Nazi horror. Most of those interviewed felt their actions were done out of friendship and for people caught in a web of hatred and anti-Semitism. They did not feel that they were acting heroically but that they were doing what was right. Portraits by Block of each of the rescuers accompany the text. These 49 are representative of the 9,295 rescuers honored at the Yad Vashem in Israel. This is recommended for general readers as well as for college and university libraries.
- Charles Abshire, Mt. Hood Community Coll. Lib., Gresham, Ore.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Gay Block has photographed her subjects with great psychological insight and a total lack of technical artifice . . . . These photographs begin to negate the idea that evil is more interesting than goodness." -- Museum of Modern Art Quarterly

"Riveting . . . Each [story] will fling you with an immediacy you'd forgotten into the largest mysteries of the soul in its capacity for astonishing evil and even more astonishing goodness." -- Ness Rapoport, Tikkun --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ergo (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0841913234
• ISBN-13: 978-0841913233
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful photo-interview essay on altruism..., January 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust (Hardcover)

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.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True stories of moral courage and goodness, April 5, 2000

By 

Robert Oliver "Rob" (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rescuers -Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust (Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust, March 13, 2009

By 

C. Feinkind (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust (Paperback)

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.