50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany - Hardcover

Pressman, Steven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062237470 ISBN 13: 9780062237477

Publisher: Harper, 2014

Synopsis

Based on the acclaimed HBO documentary, the astonishing true story of how one American couple transported fifty Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Austria to America in 1939—the single largest group of unaccompanied refugee children allowed into the United States—for readers of In the Garden of Beasts and A Train in Winter.

In early 1939, America's rigid immigration laws made it virtually impossible for European Jews to seek safe haven in the United States. As deep-seated anti-Semitism and isolationism gripped much of the country, neither President Roosevelt nor Congress rallied to their aid.

Yet one brave Jewish couple from Philadelphia refused to silently stand by. Risking their own safety, Gilbert Kraus, a successful lawyer, and his stylish wife, Eleanor, traveled to Nazi-controlled Vienna and Berlin to save fifty Jewish children. Steven Pressman brought the Kraus's rescue mission to life in his acclaimed HBO documentary, 50 Children. In this book, he expands upon the story related in the hour-long film, offering additional historical detail and context to offer a rich, full portrait of this ordinary couple and their extraordinary actions.

Drawing from Eleanor Kraus's unpublished memoir, rare historical documents, and interviews with more than a dozen of the surviving children, and illustrated with period photographs, archival materials, and memorabilia, 50 Children is a remarkable tale of personal courage and triumphant heroism that offers a fresh, unique insight into a critical period of history.

About this title

Review:

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, May 2014: If you missed the highly praised HBO documentary 50 Children, you can get the whole story from this excellent chronicle by journalist Steven Pressman, who also wrote, directed, and produced the film. Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus were typical members of an affluent, educated Jewish community in Philadelphia in the 1930s; Gilbert was a lawyer, and Eleanor a bit of a shopaholic. Worried about what they were hearing from Europe by 1939, the Krauses set out to travel to Austria and Germany to save Jewish children from the advancing Nazis; they were not particularly religious or political and this was not an easy task in an era plagued by anti-Semitism and isolationism. But through careful readings of the law, loopholes in the visa-granting system, and plain old bravery, the Krauses managed to bring more than four dozen children to safety in the United States. Pressman, the Krauses’ grandson-in-law, used Eleanor Kraus’s unpublished diaries as well as photographs, documents, and interviews to recreate a historical moment and a heroic act. Like Oskar Schindler and his list, the Krauses and their 50 children will now never be forgotten. --Sara Nelson

From the Back Cover:

Two Ordinary Americans.
Fifty Innocent Lives.
One Unforgettable Journey.

In early 1939, few Americans were thinking about the darkening storm clouds over Europe. Nor did they have much sympathy for the growing number of Jewish families that were increasingly threatened and brutalized by Adolf Hitler's policies in Germany and Austria.

But one ordinary American couple decided that something had to be done. Despite overwhelming obstacles—both in Europe and in the United States—Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus made a bold and unprecedented decision to travel into Nazi Germany in an effort to save a group of Jewish children.

Fewer than 1,200 unaccompanied children were allowed into the United States throughout the entire Holocaust, in which 1.5 million children perished. The fifty children saved by the Krauses turned out to be the single largest group of unaccompanied children brought to America.

Drawing from Eleanor Kraus's unpublished memoir, rare historical documents, and interviews with more than a dozen of the surviving children, and illustrated with period photographs, archival materials, and memorabilia, 50 Children is a remarkable tale of personal courage and triumphant heroism that offers a fresh, unique insight into a critical period of history.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0062237470
• ISBN 13: 9780062237477
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320