“As a researcher and collector of historical source material, Mr. Gilbert has no peer among
contemporary historians.” —The New York Times

According to Jewish tradition, “Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved the entire world.” In The Righteous, distinguished historian Sir Martin Gilbert explores the courage of those who, throughout Germany and in every occupied country, took incredible risks to help Jews whose fate would have been sealed without them. Indeed, many lost their lives for their efforts.

From Greek-Orthodox Princess Alice of Greece to the Ukrainian Uniate Archbishop of Lvov, from priests and soldiers to employees and neighbors, many risked, and sacrificed, everything to help their fellow man. Drawing from twenty-five years of original research, Gilbert re-creates the remarkable stories of the non-Jews who have received formal recognition by the State of Israel as Righteous Among the Nations.

Praise

“[The Righteous] deserves to be read side by side with the studies claiming that there were no rays of light, no manifestations of humanity and goodness in those dark days.” —The New York Times

“A timely [book] for a new century . . . The questions raised in this book lie at the heart of our humanity.” —The Guardian

“This is a book that should, that must, be read.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

About the Author(s)

Sir Martin Gilbert

Martin Gilbert is the author of eight books on Holocaust themes, a subject on which he has been writing for forty years. In 1995 he was knighted “for services to British history and international relations.”

Excerpt

From The Righteous:

"What were the motives of those who tried to save Jews from deportation and death?" This question is raised with every account of rescue, as the reader, like the historian, wonders whether they would have behaved in such a courageous manner. First and foremost, the Righteous of this book chose to act; theirs was a deliberate decision to behave in a civilized, humane manner, rather than to do nothing, or to refuse to be involved, or to take the route of barbarism.

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