My Brother's Keeper: Christians Who Risked All to Protect Jewish Targets of the Nazi Holocaust

by Rod Gragg

Overview

2017 Christian Book Award Finalist

Thirty captivating profiles of Christians who risked everything to rescue their Jewish neighbors from Nazi terror during the Holocaust.

My Brother's Keeper unfolds powerful stories of Christians from across denominations who gave everything they had to save the Jewish people from the evils of the Holocaust. This unlikely group of believers, later honored by the nation of Israel as "The Righteous Among the Nations," includes ordinary teenage girls, pastors, priests, a German army officer, a former Italian fascist, an international spy, and even a princess.

In one gripping profile after another, these extraordinary historical accounts offer stories of steadfast believers who together helped thousands of Jewish individuals and families to safety. Many of these everyday heroes perished alongside the very people they were trying to protect. There is no doubt that all of their stories showcase the best of humanity -- even in the face of unthinkable evil.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455566303
Publisher:	Center Street
Publication date:	10/11/2016
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Rod Gragg is a historian and the author of more than twenty books on topics in American history. His works have been selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the History Book Club, and the Military History Book Club. His literary awards include the Douglas Southall Freeman History Prize, the Fletcher Pratt Award, and the James I. Robertson Award. One of his books, Confederate Goliath, was the basis of a PBS film of the same name, and another, Forged in Faith, was nominated for the George Washington Book Prize. He and his family live in South Carolina, where he serves as director of the CresCom Bank Center for Military & Veterans Studies at Coastal Carolina University.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Feng Shan Ho 1

Chapter 2 Otto and Gertrud Mörike 11

Chapter 3 Francis Foley 23

Chapter 4 Geertruida Wijsmuller 29

Chapter 5 Heinrich Grüber 37

Chapter 6 Nicholas Winton 47

Chapter 7 Jan Karski 57

Chapter 8 Józef and Wiktoria Ulma 69

Chapter 9 Max Liedtke 73

Chapter 10 Julius Madritsch 81

Chapter 11 Hans Christen Mamen 91

Chapter 12 Gilleleje Lutheran Church 101

Chapter 13 Joseph Peeters 111

Chapter 14 Madeleine Rouffart 119

Chapter 15 Bastiaan Jan Ader 129

Chapter 16 The Ten Boom Family 139

Chapter 17 Jean Henri Weidner 147

Chapter 18 André Trocmé 155

Chapter 19 Lois Gunden 163

Chapter 20 Princess Alice of Battenberg 171

Chapter 21 Daniil Tymchyna 177

Chapter 22 Iosif and Anna Nazaruk 189

Chapter 23 Anton Schmid 199

Chapter 24 Aldo Brunacci 205

Chapter 25 Jane Haining 213

Chapter 26 Imre Báthory 223

Chapter 27 Anna Ehn 229

Chapter 28 Ernest and Renée Lepileur 235

Chapter 29 Rodrick Edmonds 241

Chapter 30 Premysl Pitter 247

Acknowledgments 257

Notes 261

Bibliography 303

Index 317

About the Author 333

Editorial Reviews

10/03/2016
Gragg (By the Hand of Providence: How Faith Shaped the American Revolution) provides an inspiring look at 30 Christian heroes who defied the Nazis at great personal risk and bucked the general tide of indifference and paralysis that overwhelmed almost all bystanders to the Holocaust. Jan Karski, who tried to get F.D.R. to respond to the mass murders of Europe’s Jews, will be familiar to many readers, but most of the people profiled here are not. For example, relatively few will have heard of Feng Shan Ho, a Chinese Christian, who saved over 12,000 Jews. When Ho’s promotion to consul-general at the Chinese embassy in Vienna coincided with increasing reports of Jewish persecution, he issued visas to Austrian and German Jews, allowing them to emigrate to Shanghai. Ho persisted despite opposition by his own government, which wanted to maintain its relationship with Hitler. Ho’s story, like that of the others, merits fuller treatment than it gets here, but Gragg gives a sense of these activists’ mind-boggling bravery, though he does not provide a deep dive into their psychology to explain why they acted when so many did not. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"The Holocaust stands as history's central metaphor for evil. At a time when fear and divisiveness are resurging around the globe, we badly need this harrowing account of unsung heroes who risked all for the sake of good."—Philip Yancey, New York Times bestselling author

"Gragg provides an inspiring look at 30 Christian heroes who defied the Nazis at great personal risk and bucked the general tide of indifference and paralysis that overwhelmed almost all bystanders to the Holocaust. Jan Karski, who tried to get F.D.R. to respond to the mass murders of Europe's Jews, will be familiar to many readers, but most of the people profiled here are not. For example, relatively few will have heard of Feng Shan Ho, a Chinese Christian, who saved over 12,000 Jews. When Ho's promotion to consul-general at the Chinese embassy in Vienna coincided with increasing reports of Jewish persecution, he issued visas to Austrian and German Jews, allowing them to emigrate to Shanghai. Ho persisted despite opposition by his own government, which wanted to maintain its relationship with Hitler. [...] Gragg gives a sense of these activists' mind-boggling bravery."—Publisher's Weekly

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