Saints and Liars

"In this remarkable book Debórah 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." -Zoe Waxman, Professor of Holocaust History, University of Oxford and author of Women in the Holocaust: A Feminist History

"When genocidal dictators blow up the world, extraordinary people rise to the occasion. Debórah Dwork’s powerful Saints and Liars depicts the lives of courageous Americans, of various religious denominations, who worked against odds and at great risk rescuing Jewish refugees from the Nazis. Dwork, noted for her groundbreaking work on children, gender, war and the Holocaust, shows us the human flaws and conflicts, administrate complexities, and sexism—these rescuers faced, endured and triumphed over. An important and timely book." -Peter Balakian, author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response

"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!" -Marion Kaplan, author of Hitler's Jewish Refugees: Hope and Anxiety in Portugal

"Prague, Vilna, Shanghai, Marseille, and Lisbon are the backdrop for this brilliantly conceived history of American relief and rescue efforts during World War II. Debórah 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." -David Marwell, author of Mengele: Unmasking the Angel of Death

"In Saints and Liars Debórah Dwork tells a gripping story of individual American activists – Unitarians, Quakers, Jews – navigating the dark corners of wartime Prague, Vilna, Shanghai, Marseille, and Lisbon in an effort to save vulnerable people from the Nazis. Her book reads like a novel by Alan Furst or Joseph Kanon, while also delivering a powerful and moving portrait of what brave (though complicated) people could do in response to Nazi persecution. This is a brilliant work of historical reconstruction which, sadly, is also highly timely." -Benjamin Carter Hett, author of The Nazi Menace: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War

"In Saints and Liars Debórah Dwork deftly examines five examples of rescue efforts in five cities—Vilna, Prague, Marseille, Lisbon, and Shanghai—between 1939-1943. With exhaustive research, Debórah Dwork peels back layers of complexity, each microhistory highlighting the importance of luck, timing, resourcefulness and connections. These stories seen simply from today’s perspective could be flattened by a lesser writer as purely heroic. But Debórah Dwork’s recounting shows that they were messy, plagued by egos, ambitions, miscommunications, sexism, real dangers, and the chaos of the times with shifting political and military realities. These rescuers were saints, but to accomplish what they did, they were also liars; they were driven and they were flawed. Debórah Dwork illuminates tiny bright moments of astonishing bravery, such as Japan’s consul, Chiune Sugihara, who despite explicitly being told not to grant transit visas to Jews, issued thousands. Startlingly relevant in today’s world-wide refugee crisis, Saints and Liars serves as a primer to all of us trying to understand the complex, messy and urgent work of rescue." -Gwen Strauss, author of The Nine