RIGHTEOUS GENTILE RAOUL WALLENBERG nazi holocaust

ISBN 0670749249

Size = 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall

Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish aristocrat who managed to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the gas chambers in the closing months of 1944. His relief agency in Budapest issued bogus Swedish passports to as many Jews as possible. By dint of his commanding personality, his ingenuity, and his talent for pulling the wool over the eyes of dimwitted Nazi functionaries, he contrived to convince the German and Hungarian authorities to respect these entirely extralegal documents. In mid-January 1945, he was summoned to the Soviet embassy in newly-"liberated" Budapest, and he was never seen again.

This is a great and inspiring story, and Righteous Gentile does justice to it. Bierman doesn't really succeed in explaining the origins of the idealism that led Wallenberg to volunteer for this job in the first place, but probably nobody could. What he does show is the skill and energy with which Wallenberg executed the task assigned to him. Actually "skill and energy" are ludicrously inadequate terms. Wallenberg not only distributed his passports, he tirelessly roamed around pulling Jews out of death marches and off trains bound for Auschwitz, he bossed Nazi thugs around in impeccable Hochdeutsch (and they listened), and he confronted Adolf Eichmann himself, all the while taking the most extraordinary risks.

218 pages with photos. Hard cover with UNCLIPPED dust jacket. Ex-Library.

Weight = 800 g

BOOK / DUST JACKET CONDITION = VERY GOOD / VERY GOOD

NEW: This book has been designated by the seller as brand new.

FINE: No defects, little usage. Older books may show minor flaws.

VERY GOOD: Shows some signs of wear and is no longer fresh. Attractive.

GOOD: Average used book with all pages present. Possible loose bindings, highlighting, cocked spine or torn dust jackets.

FAIR: Obviously well-worn, but no text pages missing. May be without endpapers or title page. Markings do not interfere with readability.

POOR: All text is legible but may be soiled and have binding defects. Reading copies and binding copies fall into this category.

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