Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust

 

The Jewish heroes of the post-WWII narrative were mostly survivors of the concentration camps. Broken people, most of them unwilling to share their stories, their testimonies - very scarce in words - were part of a larger story of Jews as the unequivocal victims. ´Jews were like lambs to the slaughter´ says this narrative.

However, more and more testimonies collected in the recent decades are rather proving the opposite. In fact, from the very beginning of the Nazi nightmare, Jews rebelled. In France, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Eastern Europe, Jews set up groups of resistance, fought to death but at least they died as free people. 

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport  offers a significant number of stories about resistance against Nazis as well as networks of support and rescue organised by gentiles - churches mostly, but also individuals, particularly in France. Although the role of the church in ´saving´ in different capacities Jewish children has so many dark episodes, it did saved children from being sent to death. How difficult it was for the parents or surviving family members to find them and take them back it is another painful story of those dramatic times. 

The stories told in the book - who was in the preparation for six long years of research in the archives and dialogues with survivors from all over the world - are representative enough to offer a wide different picture of the Jewish actions during the war. 

Nevertheless, those story do not diminish the trauma of individuals and families who experienced those times and were murdered. There are stories about childhoods broken, about innocent children sent out of their homes, in trains, with a small luggage, not sure if they will ever see their parents again. Stories of teenagers who instead of continuing their education, were forced to learn how to use a weapon to defend themselves. And there is also the pride, against all odds. Of being born a Jew and remaining a Jew, despite all the tragedies and suffering. 

The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust fills in important historical episodes normally absent from the predominant narrative, which creates a bigger and more realistic context of the period but also of the extent of the trauma.