Why read Altruistic Personality?

Book cover of Altruistic Personality: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe

Book description

Why, during the Holocaust, did some ordinary people risk their lives and the lives of their families to help others--even total strangers--while others stood passively by? Samuel Oliner, a Holocaust survivor who has interviewed more than 700 European rescuers and nonrescuers, provides some surprising answers in this compelling work.

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Why read it?

1 author picked Altruistic Personality as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Marta Fuchs

Author

What motivated “ordinary people” to risk their lives and their families’ lives to save Jews? I was especially interested to know because my father and his labor battalion of 140 Hungarian Jews were saved by their Commanding Officer. As a therapist, I wondered what personal and family characteristics made a difference. As a mother, I wanted to raise children who care about others and take action in the face of injustice.

Based on interviews with 700 rescuers and survivors, central was the rescuers’ sense of personal obligation to others which began with close family relationships and seeing their parents model…

From Marta's list on with impact on the daughter of Holocaust Survivors.