290: Antonina Żabiński The Zookeeper’s Wife Born: 1908, Warsaw, Present-day Poland Died: 1971, Most Likely Poland Antonina was a respected teacher and author of children’s books in her native Poland before the war broke out. Her parents died early in her life during the Bolshevik occupation of Russia (and what is now Poland) She and…
248: Perla Ovitz Entertainer who was Born With Pseudoachondroplasia Dwarfism; Alongside Most of her Siblings Born: 10 January 1921, Rozavlea, Romania Died: 9 September 2001, Israel Original Name: Piroska Ovitz Perla’s father had the condition and her mother was of average size (as was her father’s first wife). Of his ten children seven were little…
181) Julien Bryan Filmmaker who was Unafraid to Film in Areas That Could Get Him Killed Born: 23 May 1899, Titusville, Pennsylvania, United States of America Died: 20 October 1974, Bronxville, New York, United States of America Photographer, Filmmaker, and Documentarian. Julien was most notable for recording everyday life in Nazi occupied Poland, Germany, and…
162) Jan Zwartendijk Worked with Chiune Sugihara to ensure 6,000 Jewish Refugees could escape the Shoah Born: 29 July 1896, Rotterdam, the Netherlands Died: 1976, Eindhoven, The Netherlands He was originally in Lithuania working with a light bulb company before he started working for the Dutch Consulate. He Issued Permits that allowed Jewish Refugees to…
161) Chiune Sugihara He and Wife Yukiko are Credited with Saving the Lives of 6,000 Jews During the Shoah Born: 1 January 1900, Mino, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Died: 31 July 1986, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan Chiune headed the Japanese Consulate in Lithuania during the war. The Japanese government refused to dispense visas that would help…
154) Captain Witold Pilecki He Volunteered to Become a Prisoner in Auschwitz Concentration Camp Born: 13 May 1901, Karelia Republic, Russia Died: 25 May 1948, Ostrów Mazowiecka, Poland Witold was a Polish Army Officer & Intelligence Agent during World War II. He also founded the Secret Polish Army resistance group. During World War I, Witold…
150) Fritz Bauer The Jewish Judge who was Essential in Launching the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials Born: 16 July 1903, Stuttgart, Germany Died: 1 July 1968, Frankfurt, Germany He became the youngest judge in Germany in 1930 at the age of twenty-seven. In 1933, he was sent to a concentration camp and after nine months was…
148) Simon Wiesenthal The Nazi Hunter Born: 31 December 1908, Buczacz, Ukraine (Present Day Buchach, Ukraine) Died: 20 September 2005, Vienna, Austria He was a Shoah Survivor and Writer known as the Nazi Hunter. After the war, Simon made it his personal mission to hunt down and bring to justice the thousands of Nazi War…
“There is no doubt that I was indelibly traumatized by my experiences as a war crimes investigator of Nazi extermination centers. I still try not to talk or think about the details.” 145) Ben Ferencz The Last Living Prosecutor From the Nuremburg Trials at the time of his death Born: 11 March 1920, Present-day Transylvania,…
143) Georg Rauch He was a Jewish Man Conscripted into Fighting in Hitler’s Army Born: 14 February 1924, Salzberg, Austria Died: 2 November 2006, Most Likely Mexico Author of Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier In Hitler’s Army. Georg was actually only one-quarter Jewish, but in Nazi Germany, that was enough. He and his mother hid…