The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust (57 page)

‘Testimonianze dell’Olocausto: Documentary Evidence of the Holocaust’, Italian Immigrants Association, Israel, factsheet.

‘Testimony of Ad Vitale’.

‘Translation of Transcript of the Denazification File of Karl Plagge’ (testimonies of Major Plagge’s German employees), State Archive, Hesse.

Joseph Wisnicki, ‘My Fight for Survival’.

Marina Löwi Zinn, ‘To Whom It May Concern: Material Submitted to Yad Vashem’.

Exhibitions

‘No Child’s Play: Children in the Holocaust—Creativity and Play’, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, opened 13 October 1997.

‘Visas for Life’, Eric Saul, travelling exhibition, 2000–.

I AM GRATEFUL
to all those who wrote to me about their personal experiences, or gave me access to information. At Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, archive and research centre in Jerusalem, Mordecai Paldiel, head of the Department of the Righteous for more than twenty years, helped me from the breadth of his knowledge. I was also helped at Yad Vashem in the 1970s by Yitzhak Arad, the late Dr Joseph Kermisz and the late Chaim Pazner; and more recently by Shmuel Krakowsky, Dan Michman, Elliot Nidam and Sari Reuveni. Judge Moshe Bejski gave me the benefit of his experience both as one who was saved (by Oskar Schindler) and as the judge who, at Yad Vashem, had the primary responsibility over many years in honouring the Righteous Among the Nations.

At the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC, I was helped in the Photo Archive both with photographic and archival material, and would like to thank Genya Markon, Sharon Muller, Judith Cohen and Leslie Swift; at the Hidden Child Foundation, New York, I was assisted by its President, Ann Shore, as well as by Lore Baer, Rachelle Goldstein, Carla Lessing and Marion Wolff. Harvey Sarner gave me access to his personal archive regarding Righteous whose visits to Israel he made possible. The Holocaust Memoir Digest has been a valuable source, and its Project Director, Esther Poznansky, a font of good guidance. I am also grateful to the archivists and staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva; of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London; and of the Polish Library, London.

The rescuers remain to this day almost universally modest about their actions. Those who sent me details of their work included Jeannette Brousse, Pierre Golliet, Dr Michel Reynders and Dr Tina Strobos. Among those who were rescued, who wrote to me with their recollections and answered my queries, I am most grateful to the following, listed under the countries in which they were saved:

Belarus: Richard Vanger.

Belgium: Walter Absil, Nicole David, Rachelle Goldstein, Flora M. Singer, Bronia Veitch.

Czechoslovakia: Frank Bright, Hana Greenfield, David Korn, Jana Tanner, Henry Wilde.

France: Professor Amos Dreyfus, Betty Eppel, Gisele Feldman, Carl Hausman, Greta Herensztat, Lady Lipworth, Walter W. Reed, Helen Resnick, Anne Schwab, Felice Zimmern Stokes, Ines Vromen.

Germany: Professor Edgar Gold, Charles C. Milford, Evy Woods.

Greece: Jeff M. Levis.

Holland: Lore Baer, Ilana Drukker-Tikotin, Cecile Kahn-Kanner, Levie Kanes, Dr Robert Krell, Edna Heruthy, Donya Meijer, Steffi Robertson, L. I. Troostwijk, Dr Maurits Eduard de Vries.

Hungary: Pal Foti, Tibor Hegedus, David Peleg, Professor Gabor Vermes.

Italy: Marek Herman, Ursula Korn, Mario Lattes, Dora Herczog Levi, Elia Levi, Pia Levi, Adriana Bassani Luzzati, Dr Marcello Morpurgo, Luisa Naor, Ada Vitale, Marina Lowi Zinn.

Latvia: Maja Abramowitch.

Lithuania: Margaret Kagan (Lady Kagan).

Poland (pre-1939 borders): Ella Adler, Lydia Aran, Zwi Barnea, Benjamin Bender, Dora Bernstein, Alexandre Blumstein, Dr Leon Chameides, Ilana Feldblum, Lisa Garbus, Rachel Garfunkel, Halina Gartenberg, Myra Genn, Pearl Good, Helen Garfinkel Greenspun, Henry Herzog, Helena Horowitz, Marcel Jarvin, Lorraine Justman-Wisnicki, Jack Kagan, Michael Katz, Bianka Kraszewski, Jerzy Lando, Ben Meed, Vladka Meed, Betty Piechotka, Selma Rossen, Mania Salinger, Eugenia Schenker, Dana Schwartz, Ilana Turner, Dr Norris N. Wallach, Jane Weber, Bracha Weisbarth, Shewach Weiss, Joseph Wisnicki, Eli Zborowski, Harry Zeimer.

Slovakia: Professor Gerta Vrbova.

Concentration camps, slave labour camps, death marches and the last months of the war: Judge Moshe Bejski, Jack Brauns, Zvi Gill, Lea Goodman, Roman Halter, Lorraine Justman-Wisnicki, Jakub Lichterman, Anna Ostrowiak, Ilana Turner, Henry Wiener, Henry Wilde, Abraham Zuckerman.

Many other people have responded to my requests for material. I thank them all:

Roy Abrams, Jeffrey Adler, Ian W. Alexander (The Church of Scotland World Mission), Krik Ariens, Valerie Arnon, Aryeh Assan.

Professor Yehuda Bauer, Lorraine Beitler (Beitler Family Foundation), the late Arieh Ben-Tov, Leslie Blau.

Susan Caine, Daniel Chameides, M. Donald Coleman, Dr Kenneth Collins, Grazyna Cooper, Mel Cooper.

Dan Danieli, Yohanan ben David, Margit A. Diamond, William A. Donohue (President, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights).

His Excellency Giulio Einaudi, Apostolic Nuncio, Croatia.

Pearl Fichman, Alice Fink, Eitan Finkelstein, Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, Eddy Florentin, Frank Fox, Si Frumkin.

Ben Gale, Professor John Garrard, Nicky Gavron, Ben Giladi (
The Voice of Piotrkow Survivors
), Professor Edgar Gold, Helen Goldberg, Alain Goldschläger, Michael Good, Professor Richard Griffiths, Dr Andras Gröbler, Ruth Gruber.

Suzan E. Hagstrom, David and Dorothy Harman, Marilyn J. Harran, Marek Herman, Herbert Herz (representative in Switzerland and Savoie of the Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations Department), Agnes Hirschi, Jan Hoser, Michael D. Hull, Professor Otto Hutter.

Leonid Kelbert, Brother James M. Kelly (President, Mount Saint Joseph Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools), Roman Kent, Peter Kessler, Serge Klarsfeld, Rachel Kostanian (the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum of Lithuania, Vilnius).

Laya Labi, Sinai Leichter, Alexander Levy.

Mira Marody, Dr Elisabeth Maxwell, Leif Arne Mendelsohn, Professor Eric Mendoza, Ruben and Sandra Montefiore (Italian Immigrants Association, Israel), Keith Morgan, Francis J. Murphy.

Ambassador Dr Istvan Nathon (Budapest), Robin O’Neil.

Gottfried Paasche, Dr David A. Patterson, Aldo Perosino, Iris Posner (President, One Thousand Children, Inc.).

Uriel Reingold, Glenn Richter, Clive Rosen (Israel–Judaica Stamp Club), Lawrence M. Rothbaum.

Leonid Saharovici, Sister Brenda St Lawrence (Sisters of Sion), Professor Marc Saperstein, Bat-Sheva Savaldi-Kohlberg, Ruth Schijveschuurder, Henry Schwab, Per Kristian Sebak, Baruch Sharoni, Jay Shir, Stanley J. Stahl (The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous), Dr Ernest Stock, Judy Stoffman.

Aba Taratuta, Ida Taratuta.

Ricardo Vargas, Professor Irena Vesaite, Hugo Vickers.

Janek Weber, Roman Weingarten (
Cracow Friendship
), Leon W. Wells, Dr Simon Wessely, Dr Wendy Whitworth (Remembering for the Future 2000), Barbara Wind (United Federation of Metro West Holocaust Remembrance and Education Council), Dr Bob Wolf, Myriam Wolf, Dr David F. Wright.

George P. Young.

Harry Zeimer, Mark Zingeris, Dr Anna Zsigmond, Ronald Zweig.

Ben Helfgott gave me as always the benefit of his wise advice. My publishers, Marianne Velmans at Doubleday and Liz Stein at Holt, have been supportive throughout. Gillian Bromley provided essential editorial support; proofreading was undertaken by Ashok Nehru, and by Chris O’Connell, Judy Collins, Ruth Carim, Deborah Adams and Mari Roberts. Katrina Whone co-ordinated the editorial process. Alice Corrie assisted me with the index. The maps were expertly crafted by Tim Aspden on the basis of my rough drafts. Arthur Wadsworth helped with filing and sorting. Translations have been provided by Deborah S. Jacobs, Carine Kennedy, Sara Rosen, Taffy Sassoon, Ilana Turner and Aliza Wurtman, as well as by Enid Wurtman, who also helped me throughout my researches at Yad Vashem. Kay Thomson made important suggestions of presentation and content, and helped organize the considerable mass of correspondence.

The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

Aalten (Holland): fifty-one Jews hidden in

Abegg, Dr Elisabeth: a rescuer, in Berlin

Abrahams-Emden, S.: recalls her rescuer

Abrahamsen, Samuel: recounts acts of support and rescue in Norway

Abramovich, Ariela: saved

Abramowicz-Wolska, Maryla and Feliks: help Jews to survive

Abramowitch, Maja:
see
Zarch, Maja

Abresch, Father Pio:
see
Father Pio

Absil, Walter: and the rescue of his cousin

Achille, Father: helps an Italian Jewish family escape

‘actions’ (organized SS killings):; Jews saved during and after

Adama (Poland): an execution at

Adler, Ella: recalls no kindnesses, xviii

Adnet, Jules and Marie: save a Jew

Adolph, Krystyna: a rescuer

Adriatic Sea: Jews helped to escape across

Adventists’ Seminary (France): Jews sent for refuge to

Aerdenhout (Holland): a young Jewish boy finds sanctuary in

Agarici, Viorica: saves Jews

Ahlfeld, Eva: given sanctuary; with her rescuers’ two children, Photo

Ainsztein, Reuben: writes about Righteous Germans in Bialystok

Albania: Jews saved in, xvi; and the Albanian ‘moral code’

Alechinsky, Drs: shelter two Jewish boys

Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece: saves Jews

Alkmaar (Holland): rescuers in; a ‘health vacation’ in

All Saints Church (Warsaw): rescue in

Alpes Maritimes (Italian-occupied France): Italians refuse to enforce anti-Jewish measures in

Alsace: a priest from, provides false papers; an SS man from, betrays

Alsace-Lorraine: help for Jewish refugees from

Alsedziai (Lithuania): a priest in, saves Jews

Altara, Rahela: saved, with her family

Althoff, Adolf: helps three Jews

Amarant, Oded (‘Dorko’): in hiding

Amato, Albert; recalls a Righteous Italian on the island of Rhodes

Amato, Lina: saved

Amelia, Sister: gives sanctuary

American Emergency Rescue Committee: helps Jews

American Friends Service Committee (Quakers): help Jewish children to leave France

American $20 gold coin: averts a betrayal

Amersfoort (Holland): protesters imprisoned in; a rescuer in

‘Amira’: an assumed name

Amsterdam (Holland): Jewish self-defence in; Dutch protests in; arrest of Jews in; acts of rescue in; rescuers honoured in; deportation from; Jews from, smuggled out of Holland; a ‘health vacation’ from; Jewish children from, found hiding places in a distant village

Ancely, Captain Edmond: and a French rescuer

Anciaux, Mimi: with two Jewish children in hiding, Photo

Anderlecht (Belgium): sanctuary in

André, Father Joseph: a Belgian rescuer

Andriolo family: give sanctuary

‘Angel of Majdanek’: a Pole

Anger, Per (a Swedish diplomat): helps Jews in Budapest

‘Anne-Marie’: an assumed identity

Annemasse (France): a rescuer at

Anti-Defamation League: its head, a ‘Hidden Child’

anti-Semitism: animates, xvii; poisons, xix; and a Ukrainian’s curse; and a ‘terrible place’ ‘deep effects’ of; and a mother’s curse; and murder; ‘I am an anti-Semite’ and rescuers; repelled by Nazi savagery; rebuffed; in Austria; in Romania; lacking, in Bulgaria; weak, in Belgium; in Holland; known in Italy as ‘the German disease’ ‘nowhere to be seen’ in Italy

Antonescu, Marshal Ion: Romania’s dictator

Antonowka (Poland): an escape from

Antwerp (Belgium): a Jew rescued from, xx; Jews from, given sanctuary in the Ardennes; Dutch Jews smuggled through

Arad, Yitzhak: and Vilna, xvii

Aran, Lydia (formerly Lydia Gluskin): saved

Arczynksi, Ferdynand: and the Council for Assistance to the Jews

Ardennes Forest: village rescuers in

Arendonk (Belgium): a Jewish child in hiding in

Armavir (North Caucasus): two Jews given shelter in

Armenians: rescuers

Arndt, Ellen: rescued

Arndt, Erich: a rescuer, in Berlin

Arnhem (Holland): an act of rescue in

Arnskov, Fanny: helps Danish Jews

Arrow Cross: seize power in Budapest; honour ‘protected’ houses; kill Jews in the streets; discover Jewish children, and kill them; a refuge near headquarters of; an SS man protects Jews from; execute a Roman Catholic rescuer; seize Jews; question a pastor; and a Death March; Jews rescued from; and a ‘miracle’ execute two Christian rescuers; a writer wanted by, in hiding; final attacks by; a massacre by, averted

‘Artymowicz, Alexander’: an assumed name

Aryan identity cards (and other forged documents):

‘Aryan’ Warsaw: Jews given sanctuary in

Ashkenazys (a Jewish couple): in hiding

Asse (Belgium): a final act of rescue in

Assisi (Italy): Jews hidden and rescued in

Asti (Italy): a Jewish family in hiding near

Athens (Greece): rescue of Jews in; a protective journey to

Atlantic Wall: defences of, and a rescue scheme

Au Revoir les Enfants
(film): a tribute to a rescuer

Aubazine (France): Jewish girls in hiding at

‘Auntie Maria’: a rescuer

Auschwitz (Auschwitz-Birkenau): views of a survivor of, xix; a survivor of, finds her daughter; a suicide before deportation to; a rescuer deported to, for resistance activities; a future leader of rescue efforts imprisoned at; a rescuer’s father sent to; one of the first victims at; an Austrian rescuer deported to; Oskar Schindler extracts 300 women from; Schindler rescues a further 100 deportees from; eight Jewish women saved from deportation to; deportations to (from Poland); (from Germany); (from Central Europe and the Balkans); (from Norway); (from France); (from Belgium); (from Holland); a deportation to, averted; (from Italy); (from Hungary); two Jewish girls in, helped by a Polish prisoner; Jewish women in, helped by a Hungarian fellow-prisoner; a British sergeant’s quest in

Australia: a rescuer emigrates to

Austria: Jews leave, I; acts of rescue in; a factory owner from, helps Jews in Poland; refugees from, find eventual sanctuary in France; refugees from, find sanctuary in Italy; a deportation on foot towards, from Budapest; deportations by train to, from Budapest

Auvergne (France): villagers in, shelter Jews

Avelin, Father: shelters Jews

Avenue of the Righteous (Yad Vashem, Jerusalem):

Avenue Louise (Brussels): a ‘miracle’ at

Avignon (France): a Jewish couple in hiding in

Avon (France): a rescuer in

Avondet family (Italy): give refuge to a Jewish family

Azzanello di Pasiano (Italy): rescue in

BBC, the: and the morale of those in hiding; and news of Allied military successes; and ‘news reports’ broadcasts a French bishop’s protest

Baarle-Nassau (Holland): an escape route through

Baarn (Holland): the search for a safe haven in

Babi Yar (Kiev): Jewish revolt at

Babich, Maria: saves a Jewish boy

Babilinska, Gertruda: saves a four-year-old boy; Photo

Babrungas (Lithuania): six Jews hidden in

Babylonian Talmud: cited, xxi

Badetti, Mother Superior Virginie: shelters Jews

Baer, Lore: recalls her years in hiding

Baja (Hungary): and the release of seven Jewish captives at

Bak, Samuel: in hiding

Baker, Mr (a German): his Righteous acts

Bakhman, Israel: hidden

Bal, Henri and Gabrielle: provide a safe haven; help Jews in hiding

Baldowska, Wanda: saves a Jewish girl

Balicka-Kozlowska, Helena: helps Jews

Balicki, Zygmunt and Jadwiga: help Jews

Balonowe Street (Lvov): betrayal in

Baltic States: guards from, xix; overrun by Germany

Balul, Antoni: saves four Jews

Balul, Wiktoria: helps save two Jews

baptism: and rescue

Baptists: save Jews, xvi

Baran, Jozef and Eleonora: rescuers

Baran, Julian: saves a Jewish couple

Baranowska, Jozefa: takes in a Jewish child

Baranszky, Tibor: helps Jews on a Death March

Barbie, Klaus: searches for Jewish children, for deportation

Barczenko (a Ukrainian guard): a ‘decent Gentile’

Bargen, Herr von: reports to Berlin on

Belgian rescuers

Baron Hirsch Camp (Salonika): and an act of rescue

Bartel, Professor: supports Jews

Bartolomae, Christian: recalls a Righteous fellow-German

Bartosik, Canon Wojciech: gives shelter

Bartoszewicz, Jan and Zofia: help a Jewish poet

Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw: records Righteous acts; a member of the Council for Assistance to the Jews (Zegota); recounts a story of rescue in Warsaw; Photo

Barudija-Horvatic, Bosilijka: saves a Jewish child

Barys, Kazimierz and Franciszek: shelter five Jews

Bascons (France): a rescuer in

Basevi, Giuliana and Emma de Angelis: given refuge

Bastia (Corsica): and an assumed identity

Bat Aharon, Lili: records the story of a rescuer

Batja and Ester (Jewish sisters): given refuge; ‘every step was with love’

Battel, First Lieutenant Albert: helps Jews

Batya (Pharaoh’s daughter): ‘daughter of God’, xvi

Baublis, Dr Petras: saves Jewish children

Bauer, Professor Yehuda: recounts a story of rescue; and a Jewish rescuer

Baum, Karola: and a Righteous German

Baumstick, Etka: recalls a decent guard

Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands: speaks of the ‘exceptional ones’ (the rescuers)

Beccari, don Arrigo: an Italian rescuer

Beck, Aleksandra: helps her parents in an act of rescue

Beck, Valenti and Julia: save eighteen Jews

Beckerle, Adolf Heinz: critical of Bulgaria for saving Jews

Bedzin (Poland): a German rescuer in

Bedane, Albert: a British rescuer

Beelen, Jan and Wilhelmina: Dutch rescuers

Beelen, Rie and Grada: befriend a Jewish girl in hiding

Beerman, Marius (‘Bob’): a Dutch rescuer

Begell, William: recalls a German’s warning

Beimer family: hide a Jewish woman, in Holland

Beitler, Lorraine: recounts the rescue of Captain Dreyfus’s widow

Bejski, Moshe: saved, xv; recalls Schindler’s rescue efforts; and ‘last respects to the dead’, 227 and the ‘Golleschau Jews’

Belgian SS Division:

Belgium: round-ups in; and the German invasion; acts of rescue in; Dutch Jews smuggled through; dislike of German occupation in

Belgium Street (Prague): help for a Jewish orphanage on

Belkov, Kira and Dmitry: shelter two Jews

Bellaria (Italy): Jews hidden in

Bellegem, Sisters of (Belgium): give refuge

Belsen concentration camp: a survivor of; a mother liberated in; Kosovo Jews sent to; a Dutch rescuer dies in; a Jew in hiding, arrested and sent to

Belzec: a death camp; deportations to; a memorial at, and the murder of Poles ‘who tried to save Jews’ gassing at, witnessed

Belzer Rebbe (Aaron Rokeach): given protective documents in Budapest; the fate of his family

Ben (a seminarian): helps a Jew in hiding

Benedetti, Sister Emilia: shelters Jews

Benedictine Abbey (Liège, Belgium): shelters Jews

Benedictine Abbey (Nonantola, Italy): Jewish children hidden in

Benedictine Convent (Vilna): five Jews saved in

Benedictines: save Jews, xvi

Beneschek, Otto: an anti-Nazi

Bengel, Robert: provides false papers

Benoit, Father (Father Benedetti): saves many Jews

Berat (Albania): Jews taken to, for safety

Bereczky, Pastor Albert: helps Jews, in Budapest

Berger, Joseph: reports on the commemoration of a rescuer

Bergl, Zdenko: finds refuge in Italy

Bergman, Karol and Roza: saved, with Roza’s mother

Bergmann, Wilhelm: an act of kindness by

Berkowitz, Celina: saved; in a Polish orphanage, Photo

Berlin: a Righteous diplomat in; a Righteous aristocrat in; ‘very bad news’ reaches; a Jewish pharmacist from, hidden in Pomerania; a journey to, bringing help to Jews; a protest in; a deportation from; a Righteous pacifist in; a rescue scheme devised in; food parcels from, and a German’s generosity; a German’s mission of protest to; protests to, about Italian help for Jews; a protest to, about Swiss diplomats helping Jews in Budapest

Bernarda, Sister: gives refuge

Bernovits, Vilma: a rescuer, executed

Bertrand family (Belgium): shelters Jews

Besekow, Sam: rescued, with his parents

Besinne-Arbe (Belgium): a Jew hidden in

Bessarabia: Jews from, find refuge

Bialka (Poland): Poles executed in, for helping Jews

Bialkowski, Boleslaw and Zofia: hide Jews

Bialostocha, Walentyna: gives shelter; dies in a concentration camp

Bialowarczuk, Lucyna and Waclaw: save a Jewish child

Bialy, Kazimierz and Janina: hide Jews

Bialystok (Poland): an act of rescue in; further help in; Jews sent from, for safety; Council for Assistance to the Jews in; Jews helped to reach; Germans in, help Jews

Bible, the: and Jews in hiding; a teacher of, saves a Jew; and an escape from a Death March; and ‘the spirit and idea of man’

Biczyk, Jozef and Helena: shelter two Jewish girls; Photo

Biderman, Sara: saved

Bielany (near Warsaw): and a spurious baptism

Bielski brothers (Jewish partisans): Jews join

Bieser, Walter: in hiding

Biezanow (Poland): and an act of rescue

‘Big Ghetto’ (also ‘Sealed Ghetto’): established in Budapest; five hundred children released from; Wallenberg helps avert massacre in; liberated; survivors in

Bijeljina (Yugoslavia): rescue in

Bilecki family (Lewko, Genko, Roman, Julian, Jaroslawa and Anna): help save Jews

Bilthoven (Holland): three rescuers in

Bingham, Hiram: helps Jews

Birger, Zev: recalls an act of kindness in a slave labour camp