About book The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes Of The Holocaust (2003)
Not a Holocaust perspective that gets a lot of attention, Martin Gilbert has done an outstanding job of painstakingly chronicling the efforts of non-Jews throughout Europe and beyond to save their Jewish communities and refugees from deportation and death during World War II, actions which earned most of these individuals acknowledgment as Righteous Among The Nations by the Yad Vashem. Gilbert moves through these rescues country by country, and highlights the gestures, ordinary and extraordinary (though in this context, nothing is ordinary), of these determined individuals to refuse to cave to the chaos and destruction of this aspect of the war. When I read The Hiding Place back in fifth grade, I remember thinking: Would I have been able to do what Corrie ten Boom and her family did, or would fear have kept me from helping? Certainly not a question that can be accurately answered in a time, country and circumstance so far removed from the actual events, but it returned to my mind while reading this book. More importantly, in my mind: What were the qualities demonstrated by those who DID assist, for a moment, an hour, a month, or years? I decided to focus on the qualities and circumstances of the rescuers that Gilbert reveals, and I think it would be a good exercise for me to try to develop and strengthen these key traits in my own life - whether they ever become urgently needed in life or not. One of the reviews mentioned that the book discusses one of the few bright spots in the darkness of the Holocaust, but make no mistake - the efforts of these individuals cost many of them their lives, as well as those for whom they tried so determinedly to save. It's a fitting acknowledgment of undaunted, day-in, day-out effort by individuals who deserve every honor they've been given.
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 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.
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Inherently hopeful, this book is a welcome flash of light in the darkness of Holocaust histories. A simple and straightforward collection of anecdotes of Gentiles who saved the Jews, with no religious bias toward Catholic, Protestant or secular heroism. The tone is one of simple admiration and respectful remembrance. I didn't care for the format; Gilbert launches straight into the recollections, arbitrarily organized by geographic location, with little framing narrative. Still, the raw material of the book is a valuable addition to the more clinical, and cynical sort of Holocaust records that seem to be more prevalent.
—Nathan
