Rescue+Stories

__Frau Schmidt__ Schmidt was a gentile maid that worked for the family of a doctor, when the doctor was arrested, his family went into hiding. Schmidt left baskets of food for the wife and daughter who were being hidden by their neighbors. Frau Schmidt was the mother of two SS officers, if they had found out what she had been doing; they would have turned their own mother in (Meltzer 19). Schmidt's story shows two things. How strong and kind a person can really be, being able to deny your government and your own family to do what is right. Also that Hitler was able to sever even the strongest ties of a Mother to child. By this, this story shows Hitler's strength over Germany and his utter control of his brainwashed military.

__Hans Hirschel and Maria von Maltzen__ The story between Hans Hirschel and Maria von Maltzen is a forbidden love story. Jew's were forbidden to marry non-Jews. Hans was a Jew on the run, Maria was the countess that hid him. At first he hid there due to convenience but eventually, they fell in love. Maria was extremely important in the resistance against the Nazis, she helped Jews to cross borders, provided food and housing, she was a countess so she had access to important information which she fed to the Allies and those who fought against Hitler. Her specialty though was forging false identification. She created false identity cards, ration cards, and priority cards. Meanwhile, while Maria was spending long periods of time away from her home doing everything she could to fight, Hans hid in her apartment and wrote the stories that Maria was supposed to be writing. She was assigned to write articles, book reviews, radio plays and short books. All of which contained guarded, slights of criticism towards the Nazi's. One day German soldiers came to search Maria's home, she was suspected of helping hid Jews in her apartment. Hans hid himself in a bed Maria had made him to keep himself hidden, when the soldiers wished to search it, Maria became upset and refused. She told them if they really expected someone to be inside, to shoot into it if they did not believe her. The soldiers, confused by her defiance, left without shooting the bed. When Hans emerged, they decided he was no longer safe in the apartment and made plans to leave. He was successfully smuggled to the country, where after the war Maria returned to him and they were married (Meltzer 20). This story shows several key things about the holocaust. There is the basic fact that Jews cannot marry non-Jews, although many did fall in love. But it goes deeper and shows that not all Gentiles were as Anti-Semitic as the Nazis. That even as dark as some people, and times can be, there are still those who can care, and shine through the dark.

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