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Rescue Efforts from the Shoah

>by Elizabeth Kirkley-Best,PhD
copyright 2000 all rights reserved

The "Righteous Gentiles"

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Wallenberg, a scandinavian diplomat, is credited with saving thousands of Hungarian Jewish lives by remarkable efforts, even putting his own life on the line. Knowing that he could be killed, and leaving messages to the effect, he bartered for the lives of thousands who were herded into a small area for massacre. After the war, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets, and was never heard from again. He is thought to have been interred in a Soviet Prison Camp, and there have been reports of his existence over the years. The street in Washington D.C. which is home to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is named for him.

Oskar Schindler/& Stern Schindler, the director of Brinlitz, did not start out to be a rescuer. He was a Nazi entrepeneur, with a less than moral personal life. But, in the words of one of the persons he rescued, "he was an imperfect man who did a very perfect thing". Early in the war, through a Jewish man named Stern, Schindler began making "business" deals with Jewish businessmen and investors, offering to protect their investments although for little in return. Later at Brinlitz, a purported munitions factory, he bought slave labor in an effort to save lives from the camps. The mostly Jewish slaves were purchased at what amounts to @$1200 dollars a piece. They were treated better at Brinlitz than almost anywhere under Nazi control, and via Stern, he often saved the young, the lame and the weak that no one else would 'purchase'. At the end of the war, he had to flee as did much of the Third Reich hierarchy, but not before saving over 1200 lives, who would have met their fate in the gas chambers of Auschwitz and Treblinka as well as others. Schindler died penniless and divorced, but was declared a righteous gentile by Yad Vashem in Israel.

The Ten Boom Family
In the books, The Hiding Place, Tramp for the Lord, & My Father's House is expounded the Dutch drama of the Ten Boom Family, a didicated Christian Family who as part of the Dutch Underground Resistance movement hid Jewish person/families in a counterfeit room in their house, at risk of their lives. Eventually betrayed by a police informant, the two sisters in their 50's were first imprisoned, then taken to the work camp of Westerbork, and then into Germany against hope to Ravensbruck where the older sister passed away from typhus and malnutrition. The younger sister Corrie learned additionally that her elderly father had died shortly after being taken into police custody. Corrie Ten Boom was released one week before all the women her age were killed. Almost all of their hidden charges escaped. After the War, true to the older sister's vision, Corrie managed a displace person's camp, loving survivors back to a peacetime existence. She wen on to become a Christian Evangelist, teaching that there is no place so dark that the Love and Grace of God cannot reach. She died an invalid in California in the 1980's, of a stroke after spending all but the last 5 years of her life writing and teaching thelove of God and sharing her experiences in the Shoah.
The People of Le Chambon' In a small French town in the hills, at a small Hugenot Church, it was announce that they had received an arrival of "Old Testaments" Keeping the encroaching Nazis at bay, this meant that Jewish children had arrived in Le Chambon, who were taken into homes for safekeeping both by deported parents and parents awaiting their fates. Some adults were also give refuge. It is estimated that over 5000 were saved. They, unlike some other religious organizations, allowed the Jews to worship freely. Both the Mayor and Minister as well as the townspeople were bold in standing up against the Nazis. When asked if they would hide Jews in their community, by visiting officials of the Third Reich, they responded they would even if it meant death. They, like the Ten Boom Family believed it the duty of the Christian and the Command of God to protect and save the Jewish people: a special trust. The Church and many of the same people still exist today, as do many of the Jewish Children of Le Chambon.

Mies Giep Mies Giep and and her husband are not well known by name but are quite well known as the couple that hid the family of Anne Frank during the Shoah. Giep and her husband who had been employees of Frank before the war, hid the family in a "counterfeit" room along with several others, risking their own lives to bring them food and provision while keeping Nazi inquiry at bay. The Frank family, when word of the Nazi confiscation of property and deportation came, dressed in layers of clothing so no one would detect a move, and disappeared. Giep has written recently about the heroic efforts in keeping these families and individuals alive. Of the Frank family, only the Father remained alive, and the discovery of Anne's diaries and subsequent publication told the poignant story of a young woman coming of age under Nazi terror, only to subsequently die in a concentration camp a short time before liberation.

xxxxx xxxxxx

The Danish Sea Rescue Danish sailors, in small craft rescued many many Jewish refugees from the Reich's persecution. Jewish passengers, sometimes with papers and sometimes hidden as precious cargo were ferried to scandinavian countries where the hand of the Reich did not reach as heavily. The Danish sailors risked confiscation of their ships and boats as well as their lives in this heroic effort.

The attempt of the St. Louis : The St. Louis was boarded by several hundred Jewish persons from Europe, seeking asylum in North America and/or other ports. The passengers on board were hopeful, surely some port would take them in, keeping them from certain death at the hands of Nazi Terrorists. But as they sailed port to port, no one would let them disembark. They waited for some time finally in Havana Bay, awaiting political asylum somewhere, but at the last minute were refused. The tragic voyage of the St. Louis was a rescue effort that ended in failure. They were forced to return to European ports, where over 600 persons were turned over to authorities, and most were interred in killing centers and died at the hands of the Nazis. We counted political expediency and policy on immigration more important than life.

Oswego: Upstate Oswego New York is not where most think to look for Holocaust related events. The US during WWII had severe restrictions on immigration especially Jewish immigration. German Jews for example had to get paperwork from local Nazi-controlled police stations in order to immigrate to the US, making this a virtual impossibility beyond the severe quotas. A small concession though was made in Oswego, where a displaced persons camp was set up and several hundred Jewish men women and children were interred. They were not allowed to leave the camp though, although the children attended American public schools. Our efforts were too little, too late.

OTHER RESCUE EFFORTS

Raoul Wallenberg	Raoul Wallenberg, a scandinavian diplomat, is credited with saving thousands of Hungarian Jewish lives by remarkable efforts, even putting his own life on the line. Knowing that he could be killed, and leaving messages to the effect, he bartered for the lives of thousands who were herded into a small area for massacre. After the war, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets, and was never heard from again. He is thought to have been interred in a Soviet Prison Camp, and there have been reports of his existence over the years. The street in Washington D.C. which is home to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is named for him.
Oskar Schindler/& Stern	Schindler, the director of Brinlitz, did not start out to be a rescuer. He was a Nazi entrepeneur, with a less than moral personal life. But, in the words of one of the persons he rescued, "he was an imperfect man who did a very perfect thing". Early in the war, through a Jewish man named Stern, Schindler began making "business" deals with Jewish businessmen and investors, offering to protect their investments although for little in return. Later at Brinlitz, a purported munitions factory, he bought slave labor in an effort to save lives from the camps. The mostly Jewish slaves were purchased at what amounts to @$1200 dollars a piece. They were treated better at Brinlitz than almost anywhere under Nazi control, and via Stern, he often saved the young, the lame and the weak that no one else would 'purchase'. At the end of the war, he had to flee as did much of the Third Reich hierarchy, but not before saving over 1200 lives, who would have met their fate in the gas chambers of Auschwitz and Treblinka as well as others. Schindler died penniless and divorced, but was declared a righteous gentile by Yad Vashem in Israel.
The Ten Boom Family	In the books, The Hiding Place, Tramp for the Lord, & My Father's House is expounded the Dutch drama of the Ten Boom Family, a didicated Christian Family who as part of the Dutch Underground Resistance movement hid Jewish person/families in a counterfeit room in their house, at risk of their lives. Eventually betrayed by a police informant, the two sisters in their 50's were first imprisoned, then taken to the work camp of Westerbork, and then into Germany against hope to Ravensbruck where the older sister passed away from typhus and malnutrition. The younger sister Corrie learned additionally that her elderly father had died shortly after being taken into police custody. Corrie Ten Boom was released one week before all the women her age were killed. Almost all of their hidden charges escaped. After the War, true to the older sister's vision, Corrie managed a displace person's camp, loving survivors back to a peacetime existence. She wen on to become a Christian Evangelist, teaching that there is no place so dark that the Love and Grace of God cannot reach. She died an invalid in California in the 1980's, of a stroke after spending all but the last 5 years of her life writing and teaching thelove of God and sharing her experiences in the Shoah.
The People of Le Chambon'	In a small French town in the hills, at a small Hugenot Church, it was announce that they had received an arrival of "Old Testaments" Keeping the encroaching Nazis at bay, this meant that Jewish children had arrived in Le Chambon, who were taken into homes for safekeeping both by deported parents and parents awaiting their fates. Some adults were also give refuge. It is estimated that over 5000 were saved. They, unlike some other religious organizations, allowed the Jews to worship freely. Both the Mayor and Minister as well as the townspeople were bold in standing up against the Nazis. When asked if they would hide Jews in their community, by visiting officials of the Third Reich, they responded they would even if it meant death. They, like the Ten Boom Family believed it the duty of the Christian and the Command of God to protect and save the Jewish people: a special trust. The Church and many of the same people still exist today, as do many of the Jewish Children of Le Chambon.
Mies Giep	Mies Giep and and her husband are not well known by name but are quite well known as the couple that hid the family of Anne Frank during the Shoah. Giep and her husband who had been employees of Frank before the war, hid the family in a "counterfeit" room along with several others, risking their own lives to bring them food and provision while keeping Nazi inquiry at bay. The Frank family, when word of the Nazi confiscation of property and deportation came, dressed in layers of clothing so no one would detect a move, and disappeared. Giep has written recently about the heroic efforts in keeping these families and individuals alive. Of the Frank family, only the Father remained alive, and the discovery of Anne's diaries and subsequent publication told the poignant story of a young woman coming of age under Nazi terror, only to subsequently die in a concentration camp a short time before liberation.
xxxxx	xxxxxx
The Danish Sea Rescue	Danish sailors, in small craft rescued many many Jewish refugees from the Reich's persecution. Jewish passengers, sometimes with papers and sometimes hidden as precious cargo were ferried to scandinavian countries where the hand of the Reich did not reach as heavily. The Danish sailors risked confiscation of their ships and boats as well as their lives in this heroic effort.
The attempt of the St. Louis :	The St. Louis was boarded by several hundred Jewish persons from Europe, seeking asylum in North America and/or other ports. The passengers on board were hopeful, surely some port would take them in, keeping them from certain death at the hands of Nazi Terrorists. But as they sailed port to port, no one would let them disembark. They waited for some time finally in Havana Bay, awaiting political asylum somewhere, but at the last minute were refused. The tragic voyage of the St. Louis was a rescue effort that ended in failure. They were forced to return to European ports, where over 600 persons were turned over to authorities, and most were interred in killing centers and died at the hands of the Nazis. We counted political expediency and policy on immigration more important than life.
Oswego:	Upstate Oswego New York is not where most think to look for Holocaust related events. The US during WWII had severe restrictions on immigration especially Jewish immigration. German Jews for example had to get paperwork from local Nazi-controlled police stations in order to immigrate to the US, making this a virtual impossibility beyond the severe quotas. A small concession though was made in Oswego, where a displaced persons camp was set up and several hundred Jewish men women and children were interred. They were not allowed to leave the camp though, although the children attended American public schools. Our efforts were too little, too late.