Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Politics & government

SAINTS AND LIARS

Deborah Dwork

The Story of Americans Who Saved Refugees from the Nazis

A gripping history that plumbs the extraordinary stories of American relief and rescue workers during World War II.

Saints and Liars recounts the remarkable story of Americans who went abroad to offer relief and stayed to rescue people targeted by the Nazi regime. Deployed by US organizations to Prague, Vilna, Shanghai, Marseille, and Lisbon, they gathered necessities for refugees' survival while trying to find them safe havens. Renowned historian Debórah Dwork tracks these rescue workers' heroic deeds as she lays bare the moral questions they encountered and their unpredictable and constantly changing circumstances. Among the group was the first female overseas representative of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee who, sent to Shanghai, negotiated with enemy Japanese to protect the refugee community. There was also the Unitarian couple aiding undocumented people?Jews, antifascists, and artists?in Lisbon while serving as American secret agents. Drawing on a deep well of archival documents, including recently discovered letters, diaries, and memos, Dwork chronicles both the tragedies rescue workers witnessed and the amazing successes they achieved. 35 black-and-white images, 6 maps Debórah Dwork is director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the Graduate Center?CUNY. Author (with Robert Jan van Pelt) of Flight from the Reich and Holocaust, among other works, she lives in New York.

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Book Published 2025-01-14 by W.W. Norton

Comments

For anyone interested in the plight of refugees and the intensely committed people who provided relief and rescue in war-torn Europe, Debórah Dwork's deeply researched and riveting account is the gold standard. Focusing on the micro level, she investigated what happened behind the scenes as representatives of the Quakers, Unitarians, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee gauged the unpredictability of radically fluctuating government policies and risked secret, often illicit actions in order to aid 'destitute and shattered people.' A must read!

In this remarkable book Deborah Dwork confirms her place as the most profound historian of the Holocaust at work today. Brilliantly weaving together original analysis and piercing insight, she offers a whole new way of conceptualizing the tragedy of the Shoah. It is a truly transformative addition to the existing body of scholarship.

Prague, Vilna, Shanghai, Marseille, and Lisbon are the backdrop for this brilliantly conceived history of American relief and rescue efforts during World War II. Deborah Dwork's discerning eye has focused on five examples of individuals and couples whose courage and determination saved lives. In doing this, she not only tells an important story of human agency in the context of world events, but also provides a revealing and welcome glimpse at the quotidian and often overlooked motives, irrational impulses, and just plain luck that propel history just as they do our everyday lives.