Deschutes Public Library

In the garden of the righteous, the heroes who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, Richard Hurowitz

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 411-426) and index

collective biography

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

In the garden of the righteous

bibliography

1357548425

Richard Hurowitz

the heroes who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust

"2Richard Hurowitz{u2019}s heroes have little in common: They are German circus ringmasters, Greek archbishops, two-time Italian Tour de France winners, Polish doctors{u2019} daughters, Japanese diplomats. What joins them is the refusal to surrender their consciences. Under Nazi eyes, they all sheltered, supported, or rescued Jews, often at tremendous personal expense. And each shines in these stirring, spirited pages like a beacon amid darkness.3 {u2013} Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Witches and The Revolutionary. Less than a century ago, the Second World War took the lives of more than fifty million people; more than six million of them were systematically exterminated through crimes of such enormity that a new name to describe the horror was coined: the Holocaust. Yet amid such darkness, there were glimmers of light {u2013} courageous individuals who risked everything to save those hunted by the Nazis. Today, as bigotry, intolerance, and the threats of fascism and authoritarianism are ascendant once again, these heroes{u2019} little-known stories {u2013} among the most remarkable in human history {u2013} resonate powerfully. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, has recognized more than 27,000 individuals as 2Righteous Among the Nations3 {u2013} non-Jewish people, including Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler, who risked their lives to save their persecuted neighbors. In the Garden of the Righteous chronicles extraordinary acts at a time when the moral choices were stark, the treat immense, and the passive apathy of millions predominated. Deeply researched and astonishingly moving, it focuses on ten remarkable stories, including that of the circus ringmaster Adolf Althoff and his wife, Maria; the Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes; the Italian cycling champion Gino Bartali; the Polish social worker Irena Sendler; and the Japanese spy Chiune Sugihara. These heroes provided hiding places, participated in underground networks, refused to betray their neighbors, and secured safe passage to save the persecuted. They repeatedly defied authorities and risked their lives, their livelihoods, and their families. In the Garden of the Righteous is a profound testament to their kindness and courage."--, Inside front jacket flap