The heart has reasons : Holocaust rescuers and their stories of courage

FROM THE PUBLISHER "You can't let people be treated in an inhuman way around you. . . . Otherwise you start to become inhuman." So speaks rescuer Hetty Voûte in The Heart Has Reasons, a remarkable book that provides both a fresh look at the "righteous gentiles," and a meditation on what they might have to teach us more than half a century after they defied Hitler. In 1996, Mark Klempner sought out some of the last surviving Dutch rescuers of Jewish children to better understand how and why they made their courageous choices. Inspired by their willingness to risk everything to help others during the war, the author became deeply interested in what the rescuers have done with their lives since, and where their moral compasses point today. What emerges is both a window to the past and a vision for the future. If the rescuers could remain committed to making a difference while under the boot of the Nazi regime, we surely have something to learn from them about taking a stand against injustices, about maintaining an open heart, and about not giving in or giving up. Framed by Klempner's quest for meaning, their words resonate across generations, providing insightful guidance as to how people of conscience can navigate ethically in an increasingly complex world. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING Pete Seeger "No one knows what this 21st century will bring, hope or horror. The brave people Klempner profiles in this gripping book show us there can be hope, even amid horror." — legendary folk singer Christopher R. Browning "Like no other work I have read, Mark Klempner's deeply moving book puts a human face on the Holocaust rescuers." — author of Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland and The Origins of the Final Solution Garret Keizer "An invaluable book for anyone who seeks to learn-or relearn-the art of compassionate resistance. " — author of Help: The Original Human Dilemma Harold Kushner "A book to restore one's faith in the possibility of human goodness." — Rabbi, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People David K. Shipler "In these pages you will meet profound, uplifting people whose iron devotion to human caring compelled them to risk everything to shelter, hide, and save the vulnerable. You will not stop thinking about them after you finish reading, for Mark Klempner gracefully, hauntingly, invites the most intimate reflection on the moral struggles echoing from the Holocaust into the troubled present." — Pulitzer Prize winning author of Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land Lois Lowry "I read Mark's Klempner's book with great interest, and with gratitude that he collected these accounts from a generation of remarkable people who are now leaving us. It is so important that we hear their stories and tell their stories to young people again and again." — Newbery Award winning author of Number the Stars and The Giver Richard Rohr "We need to know that there are transformed people, even in the midst of a world that seems to avoid renewal, resurrection, and transformation. Hope becomes personal, concrete, and believable in these marvelous stories." — Fr., O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, author of Radical Grace Paul Loeb "Powerful stories that can inspire us in our current time. They remind us that even in the most difficult circumstances we still can make choices that matter." — author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time

Table of Contents for "The Heart Has Reasons":

Foreword by Christopher R. Browning
Beginnings
Background
Chapter 1 Hetty Voute: Invincible Summer
Chapter 2 Heiltje Kooistra: Faith Like A Rock
Chapter 3 Rut Matthijsen: Chemistry of Compassion
Chapter 4 Gisela Sohnlein: On Wings of Song
Chapter 5 Clara Dijkstra: Divine Mother
Chapter 6 Kees Veenstra: Just the Human Thing to Do
Chapter 7 Janet Kalff: A Glimpse of Grace
Chapter 8 Pieter Meerburg: Mastermind of the Heart
Chapter 9 Mieke Vermeer: Staring Truth in the Face
Chapter 12 Theo Leenders: Laughing It All Away
Chapter 11 The Heart Has Reasons
Chapter 12: Reflections 220
Endings 227
NOTES