Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0805062602, Hardcover)
The Unsung Heroes of the HolocaustDrawing from twenty-five years of original research, Sir Martin Gilbert re-creates the remarkable stories of non-Jews who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust
According to Jewish tradition, "Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved the entire world." Non-Jews who helped save Jewish lives during World War II are designated Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust archive in Jerusalem. In
The Righteous, distinguished historian
Sir Martin Gilbert, through extensive interviews, explores the courage of those who-throughout Germany and in every occupied country from Norway to Greece, from the Atlantic to the Baltic-took incredible risks to help Jews whose fate would have been sealed without them. Indeed, many lost their lives for their efforts.
Those who hid Jews included priests, nurses, teachers, neighbors and friends, employees and colleagues, soldiers and diplomats, and, above all, ordinary citizens. From Greek Orthodox Princess Alice of Greece, who hid Jews in her home in Athens, to the Ukrainian Uniate Archbishop of Lvov, who hid hundreds of Jews in his churches and monasteries, to Muslims in Bosnia and Albania, many risked, and lost, everything to help their fellow man.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:38:44 -0400)
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On the other hand, though...I was kind of disappointed by the book too. Martin Gilbert is an internationally recognized historian, and I've been impressed by other books of his I've read. His analyses are spot-on.
But this book HAD no analyses. There was no attempt to interpret the stories, to try to explain why the Righteous acted as they did and so many others didn't. Neither did Gilbert compare and contrast the Righteous Gentiles in different countries, although each country does have its own section.
Instead of that, it's just story after story after heroic story. Almost like a list: "Such-and-such family got saved by these guys, who hid them in a shed. And this guy was saved by this person, and in the same town, So-and-so saved fifteen Jews..." I confess the stories rapidly began to run together and I struggled to finish the book.
For what it's worth, I probably couldn't have done any better. After all, the stories ARE basically the same: someone, at great personal risk, does the right thing and saves lives. I don't know how to provide a comprehensive history of Righteous Gentiles without being repetitive. I just wish it didn't have to be like that. (