How+were+people+rescued?

The rescues that happened were not the daring, swoop in liberation rescues I first imagined. They held the same risk, and same idea as that, but they required much more thought and preparation. Before the Germans came to towns and took the Jews away, there were always the rumors that, that was Hitler's plan. So kind-hearted Gentiles, non-Jews, sometimes hid young children and families in their homes. After the war, those children hidden by Gentiles were now orphans for the most part and never returned to the Jewish faith. There were of course those families that were not rescued. Children still went to concentration camps and were forced to either work or be killed. People for the most part did what they could but some were to scared to even try escaping. No one told these poor Jews where they were going, what it would be like. People who were able, provided false documentation to help families run away and cross borders. People were able to supply food, which was difficult anyways because food was always in shortage for everyone. There was a war going on after all. Jewish children were rounded up before German soldiers arrived so that they would not be sent to concentration camps. They were put into kind Gentiles homes and hidden until after the war. Those who risked their lives to help one another were angels sent to the death-sentenced Jews. It was best put by Yehuda Bauer, "In the darkness of Gentile attitudes towards Jews, there shown many bright lights, though few shone much brighter. In the end, beyond political and religious convictions it was basic morality that counted" (Meltzer 18).

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