The Holocaust Rescuers

The story of those brave men who saved millions of victims from a

long and painful death.

Who were the rescuers?

• The allied forces of the U.S., Great Britain (UK), Russia, Canada, China, Australia, and France were the people who liberated the camps.

• However, two people stand out, Oskar Schindler, and Raoul Wallenberg.

Who, Where, and When?

• They rescued the millions of Hitler's victims, such as the Jews, Gypsies, political enemies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and people with disabilities.

• They were saved from the hundreds of labor and death camps, like Auschwitz, and Buchenwald, to name a few.

• The liberations occurred from 1944-1945

How did they rescue them?

• Soviet forces were the first to approach a major Nazi camp, reaching Majdanek near Lublin, Poland, in July 1944. Surprised by the rapid Soviet advance, the Germans attempted to hide the evidence of mass murder by demolishing the camp. This continued for every other camp the troops encountered.

• The main tactic was surrounding the camps until they had to

surrender, camp by camp.

The story of Oskar Schindler

“When the Krakow Ghetto was liquidated in March 1943, many Jews were sent to the Plaszow forced labor camp, outside Krakow. Schindler took advantage of his good connections to Amon Goeth, the brutal Plaszow camp commander, to obtain the permission to establish a branch of his factory outside of the Plaszow camp, in Zablocie. There he employed around 900 mainly Jewish workers, partially unfit or unqualified for metal works. So he spared them from the horrors of Plaszow.”

“Toward the end of 1944, Goeth was ordered to liquidate Plaszow. Schindler saved nearly 1200 Jews from certain death by convincing Goeth to allow him to relocate them to Brunnlitz, Schindler's hometown, where they were eventually liberated by the Soviets.”

His Death

• “Oscar Schindler spent millions to protect and save his Jews, everything he possessed. He died penniless. But he earned the everlasting gratitude of the Schindler-Jews. Today his name is known as a household word for courage in a world of brutality - a hero who saved hundreds of Jews from Hitler's gas chambers.

Schindler died in Hildesheim in Germany October 9, 1974. He wanted to be buried in Jerusalem. As he said: ‘My children are here”.”

The Story of Raoul Wallenberg

• Raoul Wallenberg designed a pass system. This pass protected any citizen in Sweden.

• In addition, he made what he called “ Swedish houses,” a refuge for Hitler’s targets. These houses were property of Sweden, therefore the Nazis had no way of entry.

• Wallenberg had set up a small section of his staff under Jewish economist Rezso Muller, to work out a detailed social and economic relief plan for Hungary to be utilized after the Nazi defeat. Meanwhile Wallenberg ran from house to house saving his Jewish residents from the Arrow Cross raids by means of manipulation, intimidation and sometimes bribery.

What he is Remembered For • He established hospitals, nurseries, and a soup kitchen, and set up more

than 30 safe houses that together formed the core of the "international ghetto" in Budapest.

• In November 1944, during the death march of Hungarian Jews from Budapest to labor camps in Austria, Wallenberg secured the release of

bearers of protective passports and those with forged papers to save as many as possible.

• HIS Disappearance

• “On January 17, Wallenberg and his driver, Vilmos Langfelder returned to Benczur Street to pick up some belongings, and were then escorted to Debrecen.

Neither Raoul Wallenberg nor Vilmos Langfelder were ever heard from again.”

People say a picture is worth a thousand

words! How much is a movie worth? • Viewer Discretion is STRONGLY advised!!!

Bibliography

• http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/• http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/sc

hindler.html• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/

biography/wallenberg.html• Google Images and Video • http://www.geocities.com/Athens/

Academy/2393/rescue.htmlhttp://www.oskarschindler.com/