cover image The Righteous of Switzerland: Heroes of the Holocaust

The Righteous of Switzerland: Heroes of the Holocaust

Meir Wagner. Ktav Publishing House, $35 (269pp) ISBN 978-0-88125-698-7

In an effort to provide a more positive picture of Switzerland during WWII, a country whose image of neutrality has been tainted by the documented cooperation between Swiss bankers and the Nazis, the author presents the heroic acts of ordinary Swiss citizens during the Holocaust. At great risk to themselves, the more than 40 men and women whose stories are described here acted bravely to save Jewish lives. In 1938 Switzerland closed its borders to Jewish refugees. However, Paul Gr ninger, a police captain in St. Gallen, refused to obey orders and falsely backdated the papers of several thousand Jewish refugees so that they could remain safely in Switzerland. Although he sacrificed his career and financial security for these actions, after his death he was honored by the Israeli government, and Switzerland finally officially recognized his achievements. Pastor Daniel Curtet organized his entire town of Le Chambon to successfully hide hundreds of Jewish refugees. Sister Jeanne Berchmans, a nun at the Sacr -Coeur Convent, risked arrest to hide Jews in a ""quarantine"" room while German soldiers searched the building. Wagner has done history a service by sharing these carefully researched anecdotes, many already known and others told here for the first time. Wagner, who currently promotes tourism and cultural exchange for Switzerland, is not an accomplished writer, but is himself a Holocaust survivor, and these heroic accounts are informed by his personal passion. Photos. (Mar. 19)