The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust
by Martin Gilbert
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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 HolocaustAccording 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 show more 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. show lessTags
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I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it was nothing if not thorough, full of thousands of tales of human decency and tender courage in the face of death. I believe people have a duty to remember the heroes of history, and the Righteous Gentiles were certainly heroes. There are so many inspirational and touching tales in here.
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 show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
pp. 84-100, Acts of rescue in Lithuania
Nelle tenebre di una Europa dominata dal Nazismo, 20.000 individui, uomini e donne (secondo il Centro di Documentazione ebraico di Yad Vashem), non ebrei e la maggior parte cristiani ma anche musulmani, misero a repentaglio la propria vita per salvare gli ebrei perseguitati e braccati dalla Gestapo. (fonte: Google Books)
May 5, 2020Italian
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Martin Gilbert was born in London, England on October 25, 1936. He was sent to Canada during World War II, but returned on a liner bringing American troops to Britain in preparation for D-day. After national service in the intelligence corps, he was educated at Magdalen College at Oxford. He graduated from Oxford in 1960 and wrote his first book show more entitled The Appeasers. In 1961, after a year of research and writing, he was asked to join a team of researchers working for Winston Churchill. At the age of 25, he was formally inducted into the team, doing all of his own research. Gilbert became known as Churchill's official biographer, but he also wrote books on the Holocaust, the first and second world wars, and Jewish history. During his lifetime, he wrote over 80 books including Winston Churchill, Auschwitz and the Allies, The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy, The Jews of Hope: The Plight of Soviet Jewry Today, Shcharansky: Hero of Our Time, Letters to Auntie Fori: The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith, and In Search of Churchill. He died after a long illness on February 3, 2015 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Les Justes. Les héros méconnus de la Shoah
- Original title
- The Righteous. Tthe unsung heroes of the Holocaust
- Original publication date
- 2003 (1e édition originale américaine, Henry Holt, New-York (1e édition originale américaine, Henry Holt, New-York); 2004-11-09 (1e traduction et édition française ∙ Calmann-Lévy) (1e traduction et édition française ∙ Calmann-Lévy)
- Important places
- Albania; Bosnia; Greece
- Important events
- Holocaust; World War II (1939 | 1945)
- Epigraph*
- /
- Dedication*
- Ce livre est dédié à Mordecai Paldiel,
Qui a tant fait pour révéleret préservé les récits des Justes. - First words*
- Préface
Le 28 aoctobre 1974, alors que je me promenais sur le mont Sion à Jérusalem, je croisai une procession qui se dirigeait vers les cimetières chrétiens de la ville. [...]
Chapitre premier
A l'Est
Dès 1933, alors que le régime nazi imposait des conditions toujours plus dures aux juifs d'Allemagne, de nombreux gouvernements ouvrirent les portes de leur pays aux réfugiÃ... (show all)©s juifs. [...] - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Les camps et les marches de la mort
[...]. Les sauveurs, les moins nombreux, représentent ce qu'il y eut de plus noble aux cours de ces années tragiques.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Postface
[...]. On ne peut qu'espérer que la réponse est "oui" et le serait encore si l'occasion se présentait. - Original language*
- Anglais (Etats-Unis) (Etats-Unis)
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- English, French, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 4
