Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust: Genocide and Moral Obligation by David P. Gushee


Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust: Genocide and Moral Obligation
Title : Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust: Genocide and Moral Obligation
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1557788219
ISBN-10 : 9781557788214
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 272
Publication : First published December 1, 1994

"Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust by David P. Gushee is an authoritative and indispensable exploration of a highly important aspect of the Holocaust, the willingness of a small, but morally significant, number of non-Jews to take on great risks for themselves and their families to rescue Jews from the Nazi death machine. In this well-documented, well-written book, Gushee explores the full range of Gentile responses to the plight of the Jews from overt hostility and obscene brutality to altruistic rescue, the better to understand the achievements of truly Righteous Gentiles. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Holocaust."―Richard L. Rubenstein, President Emeritus, Distinguished Professor of Religion, University of Bridgeport

Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust: Genocide and Moral Obligation Reviews

  • Karan

    One of the most convicting and compelling book I’ve ever read. It is not a book for the faint of heart, and it has caused a great deal of soul searching concerning the superficiality of my personal Christian response to those in need. As Omer Barton stated, “Genocide cannot take place without a majority of passive bystanders.”

  • Greg

    A thought-provoking exploration of why some Gentiles helped Jews under Nazi persecution. Gushee is a Christian ethicist.

  • John

    A very hard, but necessary, book to read. Dr Gushee tells the story of "Gentile" (particularly Christian) rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust, and asks what we can learn from them. The background to the story is that millions of people who would self-identify as Christians either did nothing to help Jews or actively participated in the death machinery. To quote the first chapter of the book, "The Holocaust was an event in the history of Christianity. No serious student of the subject can deny it. The annihilation of the European Jews was inextricably related to Christian faith and the behavior of Christian people. Indeed, the Holocaust was not merely an event in Christian history but in fact a nauseating Christian moral failure." To some observers, this amounts to conclusive evidence for "the moral bankruptcy of the Christian religion".

    The book doesn't offer a counter argument to this conclusion- but it does argue that the stories of the tiny group (less than 1%) of rescuers also deserve to be remembered. This is the approach that Israel takes at Yad Vashem; indeed, it is paradoxical that Christian rescuers are actively remembered there, as "Righteous Gentiles", when much of the Church has forgotten this "event in Christian history". In a world where tribal nationalism and ethnic cleansing have not ceased, this book helps us face the questions: Whence comes the call to rescue? What makes a rescuer? Would I be a rescuer?

  • Kelly Brill

    Such a helpful and important book as we contemplate how to resist the evils of our day and time. I see that a new edition has been released - I was reading the 1994 edition. Gushee analyzes the motivations of those Christians who rescued nearly 250,000 persons during the Holocaust. Carefully and sensitively-written, he acknowledges that 99% of Christians were either complicit or neutral. The stories of the members of the Resistance are completely inspiring.

  • Christina Shaw

    wow... this is a very hard book. Its amazing to me, the author did a phenominal job. I am more than half way through... but One has to take a break to process.