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Historic Figures Who Set Out to Save Jews From the Holocaust

Khalid Elhassan December 15, 2020 32 min

Hanns Albin Rauter - World War II — A Dutch Resistance cell during WWII. For God and Country

28. Not All Efforts to Save Jews Were Dramatic, and Most Ended in Heartbreaking Failure

Jewish death toll during the Holocaust. Quora

Some risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis. Unfortunately, they were relatively few and far in between. Even more unfortunate, they failed more often than not. Of Jews in countries occupied by Germany during WWII, roughly 67% perished, with death rates reaching as high as 90% or more in Germany, Poland, and the Baltic countries.

Most people who tried to save Jews did not resort to arms, but tried to assist in undramatic ways that nonetheless required great courage, considering the draconian penalties for getting caught. Such assistance included offering fugitive Jews shelter, food, fake identity papers, smuggling them to safety beyond the Third Reich’s borders, or other means of support to enable them to hide or save themselves. Some who lacked the means to do even that much did the only thing they could: set a moral example by refusing to go along with the Nazis.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.