A Race Against Death: Peter Bergson, America, and the Holocaust
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Book Overview
In his landmark bestseller, The Abandonment of the Jews , David Wyman exhaustively detailed America's failure to help rescue the victims of Nazi genocide. But one man, Peter Bergson, led a tireless battle against that tide of indifference, making it impossible for American leaders to plead ignorance of the German atrocities. Now, Wyman, along with Rafael Medoff, tells for the first time the story of the man who led America's most effective campaign to rescue victims of the Holocaust. A Race Against Death utilizes extensive firsthand interviews to present Peter Bergson's own account of his remarkable life and struggles. Facing deportation from America and threats on his life, Bergson employed every conceivable method to influence policy and public opinion: he personally hounded Congressmen to support a rescue; placed controversial full-page ads in major newspapers demanding action; and drew a record crowd of 40,000 to a rally and memorial pageant at Madison Square Garden. Award-winning historian David Wyman is the definitive authority on America's action--and inaction--during the Holocaust. In A Race Against Death , he and Rafael Medoff return to this tragic era in American history and chronicle one of its few heroes.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:156584761X
ISBN13:9781565847613
Release Date:November 2002
Publisher:New Press
Length:288 Pages
Weight:1.45 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 6.4" x 9.4"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Important book about a forgotten hero.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Peter Bergson (pen-name of Hillel Kook, nephew of Israel's chief rabbi during WWII) was one of the heroes of the Second World War. His efforts to rescue European Jews were instrumental in changing American policies; they led to the saving of hundreds of thousands of lives--and possibly to the establishment of Israel (there were only some 700,000 Palestinian Jews in 1948, many of them camp survivors). More famous rescuers, such as Raoul Wallenberg, were able to act in Europe because Bergson had conviced the Roosevelt administration to set up the War Refugee Board in 1944. Before Bergson's work, saving Jews was simply not a priority for the US government. After Bergson succeeded in persuading FDR and Congress, it became a war aim. American agents were active in Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey, among other places, making serious efforts to save lives. David Wyman deserves great praise for putting together previously unpublished documentation in a fascinating book. I only wish the cover had Bergson's photo on it. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of America and the Holocaust.
Fascinating, informative, profound lessons.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
This is a powerful, moving, and very readable book. I saw one of the authors recently on a television talk show, "The Leon Charney Report," and was fascinated to learn that Jewish activists had campaigned --with some success-- to pressure the Roosevelt administration to rescue Jews from Hitler. In contrast with most other Holocaust-related books, "A Race Against Death" shows how some people did try to stir the world's conscienceregarding the Nazi massacres. It's the kind of book that gives you hope and shows how a handful of people can really make a difference. I strongly recommend it.
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