Would You Have Hidden Jewish People from the Nazis?

I wouldnt sleep well at night knowing I could help someone and chose not too.
I wouldnt sleep well at night knowing my family was in a lot of danger by helping someone by hiding them in my basement.
I would imagine there were a LOT of stressed out people back in that day, and to think there was NO Xanax back then.... wow.

Truthfully as a mother I know for a fact that I would not put my children in danger to save another. In Fact in reality I would be more likely to Sacrifice someone to keep my children from harms way! When I think of it it is Sad But Remembering the Number tattoo that was on my Grate Grandmothers from the Holocaust I know they did what ever they had to to service... :(

I don't think anyone could answer that until they were in the actual situation.
Thanks for the book reco!

Here's some food for thought. A quote attributed to pastor Martin Niemöller about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

"First they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me."

I don't know if we would be able or willing to physically hide anyone, but I'd like to think that I would be part of a resistance movement in some way...

All I can say is that I hope I would have.

I've thought about this a fair bit over the years -- I think most Jewish people do.

And what I think is, it's easy for everyone to imagine themselves as heroes in a past conflict, once history has made the moral stakes clear. But the people who hid Jewish people from the Nazis had extraordinary courage in their convictions. They were going against popular opinion 100 million percent. No one was cheering them on. Not to mention, of course, they were risking their lives and their families' lives.

I think a good test of this question might be, would you help to shelter refugees from a terrible conflict, even if they were here as illegal immigrants. Or, whatever you believe, would you risk something -- imprisonment, your livelihood, your reputation -- to do the right thing?

I want to be completely honest about myself here, because while I like to think I'm helpful in small ways (volunteering and the like), I haven't done any of these things. Really, the most significant things I've done to date are living with severe financial limitations and uncertainty because my husband does (low-paid) social change work, promoting the publication of dissident authors in my own professional work, and (I truly do believe) raising my son with a strong ethical framework. Compared to hiding people from the Nazis, that's more or less nothing.

I realize it's ridiculous to expect yourself to be a hero every minute, but it still makes me feel really bad.

That was long and rambly and sort of depressing. Sorry.

I'm not so sure fascism is not alive and well in this country.

It's hard to write an accurate answer for fear of being profiled in some way.

Sorry to sound paranoid. The German people were paranoid too, and it snuck up on them. Sounds familiar.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance . . .

My husband and I have often done the less popular thing because we believed it was the right thing. I would like to think that I would have hidden Jews, and I believe we would have. But I also have to acknowledge circumstances in my life have made me stronger now than I ever was -- I have traveled and faced problems and experiences that I would not and could not have faced in the 30s and 40s. I may not have been shaped in the same way. And there have been many studies about how the human mind reacts to social pressure, and more often than not, humans follow orders and rules than break them to choose a morally superior response. They are not bad people; they face dilemmas that lead them to choose poorly in hindsight. Moral clarity is not guaranteed in times of social upheaval. I believe we see it every day in our own politics -- obviously not to the same degree as Nazi Germany -- but similar, nonetheless.

It's easy in the comfort of our safe society to cast an emphatic yes, that of course we all would have silently fought in anyway we could get away with it.

The Nazi's used extreme and brutal measures to force people and society to comply. People lived in abject fear of said consequences. Those that risked all to save even just one soul are really heroes.

My own grandfather was a Lutheran minister in Germany and spoke out against Hitler in his pulpit in the early 1930's. He was targeted by the early Nazi's and had to leave. He warned his congregation that Hitler was becoming a real threat to their political system. He wrote letters as well, spelling out his fears. The congregation dismissed him, literally saying, 'Oh Werner, you don't know what you are talking about. Hitler is a nobody.' So my grandfather left his entire family behind. He was one of 14 children and immigrated through Ellis Island. And the rest is history...

I would like to think I would, but I don't think any of us can answer until we are actually put in such a situation.

I have no idea. I think it's the rare individual or family that does something that would imperil their own safety to such a great extent.

Great question.

I'm pretty sure fascism is not alive and well in this country. That's an extreme comparison, to put it mildly.

Yes, without question, I would have risked everything.

What's the choice?

Risking, or explaining to your children why it's okay to look the other way when perfectly decent people......elderly, men, women, and children, are being carted off like cattle to be imprisoned, degraded, and likely killed?

It's wrong, but at least it's not happening to US.

This was very much a part of the problem. Fear drove people to look the other way and find reasons to justify it because at least it wasn't happening to THEM. Or, they believed it was the right thing to do to an entire race of people. I can't imagine trying to explain that to my children.
Irony can't be the correct word, but even people in the "death camps" were driven to turn on each other as a means of survival amongst themselves.

Survival.

To this day, some people aren't even comfortable hearing about the atrocities. To this day, some people even deny that it ever happened.

Anyway, this is a touchy subject for me for personal reasons.

You mentioned a book. I would like to suggest a few books as well, aside from the obvious...The Diary of Anne Frank.

1) Night - Elie Wiesel
2) Milkweed - Jerry Spinelli
3) Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Greene
4) The Boy In Striped Pajamas - John Boyne

My children have read all of these books. They aren't for the faint hearted, just to warn you.

My son's top pick is Milkweed.

No, I haven't read the book yet. Sounds like one I should read.

yes. I would have harbored Jewish people in my home.

My father-in-law was a Buchenwald "resident" with his mother, father and brother. When it was learned that they (parents) were engineers - they were removed and taken to another interment camp, where they escaped and ran to France, then the U.K. then here in the U.S....all along the way - people helped them...they weren't Jewish..they were Russian, Eastern Orthodox.

After living in places like Taiwan, Germany and Belgium, myself, I give thanks for all those that sacrificed for future generations....like you - I give thanks for the ups and downs in my life - the strife helps me realize just how good I have it and someone always has it worse than me (and I do what I can to help them!!!) and I am truly blessed with my family and friends!!!

I know I would because it is the right thing to do and I tend to be rather impulsive, things will work out, all that crazy stuff.

Just ask yourself if would you take in a homeless person, if the answer is no then chances are you wouldn't have taken in people during WWII.

My cousin's grandmother needs to write a book. Unfortunately she only speaks Italian and her son (my uncle by marriage) doesn't have time to sit down with her and translate.

Nadia has led a very fascinating life. She married a man in Africa and lived there with him for a while, they eventually went back to Italy, she designed her own fashion line (And I'm talking top Italian fashion), he husband died in her arms (Though we still haven't been able to figure out how - Her son still hasn't translated that part for us yet), and SHE HID PEOPLE FROM THE NAZIS!!! Several families, from what I understand. She was part of an "underground railroad system" where the families slowly moved from house to house until they were in an area that they were safe - Well, safer.

She understands what she risked by doing that but doesn't regret it for a second.

Would I do it? Oh hell yes!

I would definitely try to help however I could. I'm certain that many Germans wanted to help, but by the time they realized that the Jewish people NEEDED help, it was very difficult to do so. The Nazis were very careful and conniving in their propaganda.

Consider what happened in Vienna. The Viennese thought that they were safe. That their French and English allies would protect them if needed. But the French and English had no interest in involving themselves in the affairs of the Nazis. So the Nazis created some drama; some racially German Viennese people were killed. The Nazis blamed the Jewish people, and used that as an excuse to invade. "Germans are being KILLED in Vienna! We must protect 'our' people!"

The Viennese chancellor was threatened and forced to give in to avoid a bloody war that Vienna simply wasn't prepared for. The very next day, the Germans waltzed in and Vienna was declared part of Germany and of the Reich. Not a drop of blood shed, supposedly. The Viennese Nazi Party conveniently came out of the woodwork, cheering with the Germans hired to make it look like the Viennese were pleased with Hitler's arrival.

Not a drop of blood shed? That very day, the Jews of Vienna found themselves under curfew, subject to search, forbidden to leave the country, and forbidden to go into Aryan shops. Arrests, beatings in the Judenplatz, and Jews taken away in troop trucks. It happened that fast! The rug of security was pulled out from under them.

I say all that to say this: If it happens that fast...will we even know when to help? Who to help?

I pray I know.

It frightens me a bit to see certain political policies put into place under "Chancellor" Hitler being revisited in modern society. The class warfare that is so prevalent today in the USA is the precursor to racial warfare...as it was under Hitler's Reich. People really need to pay close attention to history.

I'm currently re-reading a series I read several years ago. It's "The Zion Chronicles" by Brock and Bodie Thoene. The first book is "Vienna Prelude," if you're curious. It's historical fiction, and very well researched and accurate. All about a family who ends up smuggling passports and Jewish children into and out of the Reich. It's an incredible series and I definitely recommend it. I there are 5 books in that series, but the Thoenes have written several other great series as well.

Blessings,
♥
C. Lee

I have thought about this question myself many times. There is no way to answer this question honestly. Until the situation is presented you just can't know.

To Mira: I don't think taking in strangers is the same as people that hid neighbors or people they actually knew during the War. Take Anne Frank. The people that helped the Frank family knew and cared for them before they took on that risk. I am sure there are people or refugees you do help when you can, but you cannot take on the woes of the entire world! You sound like a good person and I don't want you to "feel bad."

...... Have you ever been at a party and someone makes a racist remark? What did you do? Did you let it go or did you voice your offense? Instead of mulling over if you could be brave in an extreme situation, just be brave in everyday situations. Stand up for what is right. Be kind on an everyday basis. That's what I TRY to do, while understanding I can't help everyone.

Wow, I need to read this book.

I recall a conversation in middle school about this. I had a Jewish friend and loved her. I tried to imagine if at that moment , my mom,sister and I could have hidden her family in our home.

It was heart breaking to realize, our home was not set up to hide any one. How would I feel if my mother and sister were punished for my desire to help others? What a huge responsibility.

I agree that I know for sure I would consider it, I know my mother would also consider it.. But until we are in that situation hard to know.

I agree that when it was just me and my husband..with no child, I would be more likely to take a chance, but once she was born.. Our decisions changed. She was our top priority. I would do anything to protect her first.

Consider this. There are people in Mexico
that fear for their lives because of their own govt. and the drug lords. They are starving with no way to feed their children and to live a safe life.

Many of them risk their lives by leaving their country to come here. Would you be willing to help them? They literally risking their lives and their families lives coming over here..their govt is so corrupt, thay do not even help their own people.

I would be scared out of my mind that my DD would blab or we'd otherwise get caught and we'd all die, but I can't imagine not helping our neighbors hide their three little girls, or help them get out of the country, as an example. I hope never ever to be in that situation, of course, but I could not look them in the eye and say no. I know I couldn't. I would want someone to save my child, too. I can't watch Schindler's List again - not while my own daughter would fit that little red coat. The stories grip my heart.

Our neighbor on the other side, who has since passed on, once looked at our flag flying after 9/11 and said quietly, "In Germany, they hung up flags, too. That's why I don't hang flags anymore." His parents got him and his sister adopted and out of Germany. They themselves died in concentration camps. He didn't talk much about it, but he wrote books on his experiences. It's one thing to read books about "someone else". It's another to speak to a survivor about his or her personal experience.

I like to think I would ultimately have the courage to try. What it would mean (sending my child away, etc.) would depend greatly on the situation. It would require very careful thought.

I would like to think that I would have. I feel strongly about social justice. Like Jo W. said though, would you take in a homeless person? I would be much more likely to take in a homeless person if it were someone I knew and cared about as opposed to a random stranger. I think most people are more likely to take risks for people they know, than they would for a stranger. I would not want to put my children at risk, but I also wouldn't want to give them the message that we don't do what's right if there are risks involved either.

I would have done whatever I could have to save lives.

I think it would be very hard for me to risk my family if I had young kids. But if I didn't have my own kids to protect, I would be willing to risk my own life.

A similar discussion came up at our house fairly recently. We were talking about the movie The Hunger Games, my husband didn't think that something like that could ever happen in real life, he said people would just not allow it or go along with it. My sister in law and I were not so confident and used Nazi Germany as, what I consider, a good example. Just something to think about, I'm going to look into this book.

M

My mother and grandmother are German. I know during the war my grandmother's family was one of wealth and means. They were Lutheran and fully against everything Hitler stood for. My grandmother was just a teen during the war and was actually away at boarding school only to return to a family of one and her entire town in ruins.

I would without a doubt hide whomever needed it to keep them from harm.

Before I had kids, totally.

After kids, I might not out of fear for their safety.

I hope that I would have had the courage. Corrie Ten Boom is something of a hero to me. Just thinking about the sacrifice her family made humbles me and gives me chills.

I loved the books that Christie Lee mentioned and am definitely going to read them again. I am going to read Clara's War, too. Thanks for the book recommendation and thank you for the thought provoking question!

If we are being totally honest, I don't think so. My primary concern has always been and would always be the health and safety of my two small children. I'm a pretty bold and genuinely good person, but if asked to knowingly do something that would result in harm to my children, I would decline.

Just to add to Christy Lee's response. My FIL was born and raised outside of Berlin. He was born just before WW II broke out and his father (and later stepfather) were both German soldiers. His father was killed very early in the war in Russia and his stepfather was an army engineer. He very rarely spoke about that time in their lives, but when he did the anger and frustration was evident. Everyday citizens did not know what was going on until (in many cases) it was too late.

The soldiers did not know what was going on because the officers were brilliant in their ability to shut-down communication and control what information their men had access to. Once they were enlisted, there were two ways out.... death or escape. Letters from family and friends were blacked-out or not delivered. The military paid well and was a stable career. To a young man with a family, it was a great choice. I've seen many of the documents (smuggled out with my FIL in his teens) and it's unreal. You can't imagine the BS they put out to people's families. If they were questioned in any way, death or imprisonment. My FIL was not able to immigrate with his mother, sister and stepfather because he was a "Son of Germany" who was not allowed to leave "The State" until they determined that it was OK... in the 1950's.

What a scary and sad time in our history and a cautionary tale. Power and corruption combined with intelligence is very dangerous.

I think it's impossible to answer that question. Who knows what anyone would really do unless they were actually faced with the situation. I'd like to say I would, but I'm not 100% sure that fear wouldn't take over.

It's hard to believe that such a terrible thing happened so recently in history, and that it goes on it parts of the world even today.

Despite all of our political strife, the economy and everything else we can find to gripe about, I still believe we live in one of the best places in the world.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd like to think that I would do it. But unless I was in that situation I don't know. My family comes first and I would have to protect them first. I guess I'm like you.

Thanks for the book recommendation, I'm going to check it out.

Good post. I have been interested in this era for as long as I can remember. I wrote many research papers in High School as well as in College. I have met a Holocaust survivor as well as a MP who stood at the door of the Nuremburg Crimes Trials. The memories they shared with me,I will never forget.

Clara's war is one of those books that just seem to stick with you. Much like Anne Frank's Diary.

I know if I lived back then I would house as many as I possibly could.

It also is imperitive to remember what happened back then, and what is happening now in this world we live in. Their are people out there who are just as evil and inhumane as Hitler. They may just hide it better.

I'd really like to think that I would do something. But would I have the courage? I don't know. This is not the same, AT ALL, but sometimes I wonder if I would've pushed for women's rights the way Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton did. I'd like to think I would. But really, those women and ESPECIALLY those who hid Jewish people in their homes in Nazi Germany were extremely courageous. Let's hope we never have to find out what we would do in that situation.

On another note, a book I read recently on the same topic is called Sarah's Key. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it!

I'll read the book you mentioned. My all-time favorite book is The Hiding Place (and it's also a wonderful movie, but you should check them both out because they both have different parts of her story, and all those parts are important in my opinion).
Would I be involved in the underground like them? Yes, to whatever extent I could (my house doesn't have a basement, a REAL attic, or the construction style to allow for a secret room, but I would do what I could to help people because we can't allow it to happen and just stand by and do nothing). HOWEVER: I think the only reason I can say that is because I've had heroes from the past to learn from and look up to. Would I have done something back then, without the stories we've heard from WW2? I have no idea.

Seeing as how I have taken in other people who were in danger from family members or significant others, I'm sure that I would have hidden Jews (or gypsies, or gay people, or anyone else on the Nazi hit list).

Have you read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom? She survived living in the concentration camps. Chilling!!

Yes, I think I would. It would be extremely hard to risk the lives of my children but if the tables were turned and my family needed help, I would hope that others would take that risk for us.

Many blessings to you and yours! Happy Thanksgiving!

I like to think I would have. But, who knows? I probably would not have had the opportunity as I would have belonged to one of the targeted groups.

YES. I would most defintely hide jewish and help bring them to safety. I believe we are all put on this earth to help each other. I am Catholic. I have been an avid reader my whole life. Evertime I read books on this subject it is very emotional for me. I cant imagine going thru such brutal loss. Yrs ago when I was visting Europe I visted a concentration camp. What a horrible place. Although it zapped all my happiness out of me. I was unable to stop crying. I kept crying hysterical. You could feel such unbelievable horror all around you. I think it was very important to visit. To see this massive glass box/room filled with shoes. These were taken off the people people that were killed just in a short time...someting like two weeks.
Its so easy not to step up and do the right thing. Then how can we live with ourselves? Remember the case in NYC around 1960 where a bunch actually heard a woman being killed. Some people saw it happening not one person tried to stop the woman from being killed. Then she died. How can people live with themselves?
I teach my kids treat people the way you want to treated. Also my favorite quote is " Be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi

i dont know if i could risk my own child being tortured to save someone. if i didnt have kid(s) in a heartbeat
id take in a homeless person now or someone being abused risking their abusive person to come because their is police that can protect M....the police at that time would have killed my kid if they found out...
its a tough call. i'd like to think i would but honestly you dont know until you are there.

i'd like to think i'd send my daughter to live with another family who had kids that weren;t able to hide jews and then i;d be able to hide them without risking my daughters life

Hi, S.:
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

You are not unlike many people in our country today.
Many people have gotten away from involvement in their
local, state, and federal governments.
If you and others would go to your local city or county meetings,
you would see how the voice of the people is carried out or not.

How can you get involved in your local city or county form of government?
When you do, you will understand the patriotism of people, you won't question yourself.

Get involved, we need your voice.
D.