Heroes in the Shadows: Humanitarian Action and Courage in the Second World War

This book focuses on World War II and extraordinary examples of heroism at the risk to one’s own life and family. It specifically considers the actions of individuals in five escape lines set up to help those on the run from the Nazis, French, and Italian Fascists. The author's research provides a more complete picture than before of how secret escape routes operated. And he shows the qualities of the people involved, whose courage held out in all kinds of adversity. They include diplomats who assisted those "on-the-run," often in defiance of the authorities at home; a rescue organization in Marseille helping fugitives through Vichy France to the port city and freedom; a group in Belgium transporting downed airmen through occupied France, over the Pyrenees, through Spain and back to Gibraltar; the community in Assisi that housed and hid fleeing Jews; and a Capuchin priest in Marseille and Nice who worked with people from many backgrounds to save Jewish fugitives, then continued his work in Rome. These stories will appeal to anyone who likes to read of heroic acts where good overcomes evil, and will fascinate anyone interested in the Holocaust and World War II generally. This book illustrates the consequences of man-made horrors, but also the best of humanity in dark times.