When Angels Fooled the World; Rescuers of Jews in Wartime Hungary

xli, [1], 302 pages. Illustrations. Includes Prologue, Epilogue, Bibliography, and Photo Credits. Inscribed by the author on the Half Title Page. Inscription reads: To Ilene, Dennis and Rachel, With best wishes, Charles Fenyvesi. Chapters cover Killers, Opportunists, Angels; The Prince from Far Away: Raoul Wallenberg; The Rages of a Dark Angel: Mr. Kanalas; The Secrets of the Mother Book: Erzsebet David; Man of Action, Man of God: Gobor Sztehlo; The Matter of Honor: Levente Thury. The author was born in Debrecen, Hungary in 1937, Charles Fenyvesi immigrated to the United States after the revolution of 1956 in which he was a student participant. He won a scholarship to Harvard University where he received his B.A. in 1960 and received an M.A. in philosophy in 1962. He edited various publications including The National Jewish Monthly and served as Washington correspondent for the Tel Aviv daily Ha'aretz before joining The Washington Post as a staff writer contributing a weekly column for nineteen years and scores of features and op-ed pieces. Next he worked for US News & World Report, filing a weekly feature, "Washington Whispers," for a decade. Fenyvesi also freelanced for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, and The New Republic. He is author of six books on subjects ranging from interviews with Europe's non-reigning kings to archival research on three little known anti-Nazi conspiracies during World War II to profiles of rescuers of Jews in wartime Hungary. His own family's history, When the World Was Whole, was published in six countries. During the Nazi occupation of Hungary, Hungarian Jews often spoke of their Gentile rescuers as "angels," men and women who conducted themselves as if the fascist laws of the Nazis and Arrow Cross did not apply to them. This book sets an historical context in its loving recollection of human beings who, by their actions in a time of terror, soared while others crawled. In the years of Nazi occupation of Hungary, Hungarian Jews referred to their Gentile rescuers as "angels" - these seemingly ordinary men and women could hardly explain their actions. "I did what I had to do almost unconsciously," said Lutheran Pastor Gabor Sztehlos. Scrawny Mr. Kanalas, a disreputable janitor, could chase away Nazi thugs without hesitation-where did such behavior come from and why? Erzesebet David was a weak and indecisive woman-where did she find the will to forge Christian birth certificates? Charles Fenyvesi and members of his family were helped by these angels. Thousands of others were helped by Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish consul whose actions surprised many who knew him. Fenyvesi writes as a historian and beneficiary of these modest angels who, with their actions in a time of absolute terror, soared while others crawled.…