Introduction xix Non-Jewish Rescuers of Jews The oppressive environment in which Jews found themselves saw a des- perate need for rescue, and in this regard, some non-Jews risked their lives to help Jews survive. Throughout Europe they constituted but a fraction of the population that might have helped—even by the most generous esti- mates less than one-half of 1 percent of the total population under Nazi ­ occupation—but their importance transcends their numbers. Rescuers came from all walks of life: rich and poor, religious and nonreli- gious, Catholics and Protestants, women and men, young and old, unedu- cated and educated. Most remain unknown to the larger public, although several thousand have been honored by Israel’s Yad Vashem in Jerusalem or within France itself. They were ordinary people who nonetheless performed extraordinary deeds, and, consistent with their quiet heroism, many in retro- spect refused to see that what they did was anything more than the decent thing. What did rescuers do? As Jews were progressively stripped of their rights, segregated, and isolated from the rest of the community, rescuers sustained them materially and emotionally. They conspired to hide Jews and smuggle them out of harm’s way, and as it became clear that Jews were marked for extermination, rescuers helped them maintain an underground existence, often sheltering them within their own homes for at least part of the time. Any of these activities could, depending on the circumstances, result in death for the rescuers if caught. In addition to this very real threat, rescuers carried other burdens. Forced to keep their activities secret, deception domi- nated their lives. Some helped manufacture new identities for the victims, obtaining or forging false papers and then coaching those they were helping to play their new “Aryan” roles appropriately. Finding and building hiding places as well as obtaining food frequently taxed their ingenuity and resources. Many deprived themselves of the routine intimacies of family and friends to avoid revealing secrets accidentally. They often enlisted their older children in their illicit activities and sometimes deceived the younger ones who might talk about the strangers living with them. In the atmosphere of the day, no one could be fully trusted, and they had constantly to be on guard. Rescuers sometimes (though by no means always) undertook their activi- ties for little reward and (again, by no means always) performed their ­ activities voluntarily. Regardless, the potential risks involved in all such undertakings were very high, not only to those engaging in the rescues but also to their families. In addition, they often acted in an environment that was at best ambivalent about Jews and at worst virulently antisemitic the perils of betrayal by neighbors and acquaintances were ubiquitous.
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