When Light Pierced the Darkness: Christian Rescue of Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland

Rating:
Summary: Inspirational book fills a gap in Holocaust history
Review: Although there are other books that cover the subject of Christians who helped Jews during the Holocaust, this one filled some gaps that the others didn't - to my mind, anyway. The author, Nechama Tec, looks at people who helped for all the right reasons - and also those who helped in spite of their semitism. She tries to find the "why" behind all the altruism and also explores how class and politics affected the decision to help the Jews. I found the writing style to be a bit dry for my taste at times but I still couldn't stop reading this book. Recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Truly remarkable book
Review: If you want to discover the the true humanity that lies hidden through all classes of society then this book is the one to read. It views the holocaust from the noble within humanity and helps one to think about what their own responses would be in a similar circumstance. Besides this, the writer is very skilled and a pleasure to read.

Rating:
Summary: Debunks Polonophobic Stereotypes Regarding Jews
Review: In addition to 6 million Jews, approximately 3 million Polish gentiles were also murdered by the Germans during World War 2. Poland was the only country with an automatic death sentence for the slightest assistance to Jews. Polish-Jewish author Nechama Tec does a valuable service in this study of Poles who assisted Jews. When it comes to analyzing the "why" of such assistance, however, her book has the shortcoming of using too small a sample for this purpose. Nevertheless, her book is both inspiring and informative. It is clear that Polish assistance was the norm, if only because many Poles were involved in the rescue of a single Jew. Tec's book is also a powerful rebuke to much educational Holocaust material, which either virtually ignores Polish aid to Jews, or even maliciously portrays Poles as being in cahoots with the German Nazis.