Overview

This book highlights the role of Jewish women in saving Jewish children's lives during the Holocaust. How many people rescued Jews during the Holocaust? There is no certain answer to this question other than ""far too few."" Fewer than 0.5% of the 700 million non-Jews in Nazi occupied Europe helped rescue Jews. A few exceptional Jewish women, however, went to extraordinary lengths to save the lives of large numbers of Jewish children, while being targets of the Nazi genocide themselves. These rescue attempts occasionally succeeded, sometimes failed, and frequently resulted in the women themselves being murdered. Few of these women have been recognized. This book honours them.

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9781803819815

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The stories of 108 Jewish women who saved Jewish children are brought to light by Chalmers and Solomon not only in order to commemorate the generous acts of brave women amidst a sea of evil and indifference, but also as a means to analyze political, social, ethical and principal elements related to these acts: the policies of western countries towards Jewish children seeking refuge; the postwar reconstruction and presentation of past shameful events; the presentation of heroines in movies according to gender-biased norms; ethical questions related to the best interests of the child, religious identity, the intentions of the rescuers and more. Holocaust Heroines is a humane, fascinating book, which raises questions and nourishes new insights. Noam Rachmilevitch The Ghetto Fighters' House, Israel The issue of Jews saving Jews, has been quite neglected in Holocaust studies and research, with little or no mention of Jewish women saving Jewish children. Much has been written about non-Jews saving Jews, and the tremendous danger they put themselves and their families in, to do so. [...] While early Holocaust studies focused on Jews as victims, Jews as resistors or saviours are only a recent focus of Holocaust study. Gender issues in both these areas of study - as resistors and as saviours - are largely ignored with the focus being on men [...]: As rescuers, women were taken for granted: this is what women should do, it was their duty [...] The book delves into the awful dilemmas faced by children, their parents, and their rescuers.[...] out of 1.5 million Jewish children, fewer than 150,000 survived, many of them thanks to a brave woman or a group of brave women who rescued them. Prof. Lily Halpert Zamir Director: WHISC: Women in the Holocaust International Study Center, Israel.

Author Information

Dr. Beverley Chalmers has two doctoral degrees: the first in Humanities (PhD in Psychology) and the second, a senior doctorate, in Obstetrics (DSc (Med)).  Currently an independent scholar, she has held Full Professorial positions in Departments of Psychology (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa), Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Universities of Ottawa, Toronto, and Witwatersrand), Nursing, and Public Health Science (University of Toronto), and Epidemiology and Community Health (Queen's University, Canada).  She currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Women in the Holocaust International Study Centre (WHISC), Israel.Dr. Chalmers has over 300 publications including 58 book chapters, and 11 books to her credit.  She has given over 470 conference presentations and addresses globally and has undertaken over 140 international health promotion activities in more than 30 countries. Her books on women's and children's experiences during the Holocaust have won 23 book awards.  Birth, Sex and Abuse: Women's Voices Under Nazi Rule (2015) was awarded a USA National Jewish Book Award, a Canadian Vine Award, a Canadian Jewish Literary Award, and a CHOICE ""Outstanding Academic Title"" award, among others.  Her more recent award-winning publications Betrayed: Child Sex Abuse in the Holocaust (2020) and Child Sex Abuse: Power, Profit, Perversion (2022) expose neglected subjects in both Holocaust and child abuse studies. Dr. Dana Solomon is a researcher, artist, entrepreneur, and advocate for human rights and equity.  Her academic, professional, and artistic work has been devoted to developing innovative and effective strategies to combat prejudice and champion the rights of all people to equity. Dr. Solomon has both an MA and PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies and 15 years of experience developing innovative and effective strategies for reducing systemic inequities facing multiple communities in diverse settings.  Her research includes the use of Theatre and ParaTheatre on the Holocaust, the ideologies of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the impact of weight bias and ableism, ideologies of genocide and conflict, and developing Ideologically Challenging Entertainment.  She has 50 creative and academic publications, including her book, Ideological Battlegrounds: Entertainment to Disarm Divisive Propaganda. Dr. Solomon has more than 25 years of experience as a multi-faceted theatre artist, including professional experience as a director, actor, and stage manager.  She owns her own business, D-Editions & Chalmers-Solomon Solutions, through which she provides research and publication support, and develops Ideologically Challenging Entertainment.  Dr. Solomon is an independent scholar and serves as the Vice President of the Disability Affinity Group at the University of British Columbia.

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