INSPIRATIONAL: Man Finally Meets Family That Hid Him During Nazi Holocaust

Thursday, February 16, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/man-finally-meets-family-that-hid-him-during-nazi-holocaust-80-years-ago-and-visits-the-house/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=10-02-2023

Man Finally Meets Family That Hid Him During Nazi Holocaust 80 Years Ago–And Visits the House
By Andy Corbley – Feb 7, 202

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An elderly Belgian man was able to meet the descendants of a neighbor who saved him from the Holocaust after his perseverant son and a helpful geneticist managed to track down his grandchildren.

The meeting was organized in the same house where a 5-year-old David Rossler was hidden along with his mother. Now 85, Rossler had a chance to thank the grandchildren for what their grandfather, Georges Bourlet, had done.

Mr. Bourlet lived in Auderghem, Brussels with his four adolescent children, Paul, Jacques, Anne-Marie, and Christiane. Together they gave shelter to Rossler and his mother towards the end of the war in 1944 after Rossler’s uncle and grandfather had already been seized and sent to Auschwitz.

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“In Jewish tradition, there is a saying that ‘he who saves one life saves all of humanity’ – Georges Bourlet saved humanity nine times over We are submitting our testimony to Yad Vashem in hopes that he will be recognized for his heroism and granted the title of ‘Righteous Among the Nations,’” said Lionel, referencing the Israeli civilian honor for those who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

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I’m not sure I’d have the courage to hide Jews from the Nazis.  Not only did Georges Bourlet risk his own life but also that of his family to do a brave thing.  He knew the risks and did it.  That’s “stones”.  

We don’t know how many took the same gamble and were killed for it.

As I said, I’m not sure I could handle a big challenge like that.  May all my temptations be small enough for my limited abilities. 

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HEROIC: No one knew what a hero this man was and how he helped to change the world

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/arno-penzias-nobel-prize-winning-physicists-family-escaped-the-nazis-with-strangers-help/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=16-06-2022

A Stranger’s Kindness Helped Boy Escape the Nazis Who Would Go On to Win Nobel Prize–And He Never Knew it
By Andy Corbley – Jun 15, 2022

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What would you do if in the middle of the night, a stranger asked you to legally declare your financial support for an immigrant family that you would never meet—and hadn’t even arrived in your country yet?

That was essentially the proposition that Barnet Yudin, a Russian-American Jew, faced one night in 1938 when a stranger, who was going door-to-door, appealed to the man asking if he could help a Jewish family from Germany flee to North America.

While Yudin hadn’t gone on to be the doctor he dreamed of being, he and his family lived comfortably in Belleville, New Jersey—and his job as a paint salesmen brought in a healthy $120 a month.

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“None of these people would exist today without Barnet Yudin,” David said, emphasizing the difference that Yudin’s choice made.

Joe Yudin, a great-grandson, told Nat Geo that his grandfather didn’t say, “Is this kid going to win the Nobel someday, or play shortstop for the Yankees? He did what he did because it was right and didn’t mention it to anybody. He definitely had this big picture of what humanity should be like.”

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I heard stories about the “affidavit of support” and how difficult it was to get through the bureaucrats in the USA.

What a difference from today when criminals work across the southern border with impunity.

Here a fellow that did the right thing.  Even though no one knew about it for generations later.

(Ever heard that old Irish adage about “good works only count if done in secret”. Funny, I learned that from my maternal English Protestant grandmother who wanted to teach me about my maternal grandfather’s “heathen Irish culture that has a few good points”. ROFL!)

Here’s an example!

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