face of the other: reflections on the motivations of gentile rescuers of Jews

What motivated non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust? One explanation lies in the rescuers' childhoods during which their spiritual and ethical standards were formed. Many rescuers, suddenly confronted by Jews seeking help, complied immediately. Others offered excuses for not doing so. They, too, had to contend with anti-Semites, collaborators and traitors among their own people. Everything had to be done in secret. Instances of rescue in Eastern Europe were more numerous than those in occupied countries elsewhere, as the Nazi treatment of Jews in the East was harsher than in the West.