A couple rescue 50 children

“To take a child from its mother seemed to be the lowest thing a human being could do. Yet it was as if we had drawn up in a lifeboat in a most turbulent sea.” – Eleanor Kraus

My daughters would say I’m ‘vibing’ today. I have to agree; with a day off to read, I’m definitely ‘vibing,’ according to their slang. What an absolute luxury. I’m in paradise.

I just finished the book, 50 Children by Steven Pressman. I’m not sure if the book teaser about the amazing rescue story or my love of history influenced my desire and need to read this book. Yes, I do say need, you see as an avid, impassioned reader, I always need to have a few books ‘at the ready’ to devour at a moments notice. This is actually one of three books I’m presently reading.

Reading relaxes me. That’s why you’ll find me reading at all hours. This is my release; reading gives me back my balance.

What do I think of this book? I think Steven Pressman did an excellent job of providing facts while also expressing the competing agendas of various political factions and the humanitarian calling of the Kraus’. It’s sometimes difficult to provide facts while also relaying depth of compassion, resolve, fear and wonder. Steven Pressman manages to do this well.

50 Children exemplifies how those with faith and fortitude can basically overcome insurmountable odds and succeed with their goals. Adversity, including, negative press, delays, roadblocks, changing political climate, mortal danger is no match for people with a vision. Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus rescue 50 Viennese children from their dire existence in Vienna during the Nazis’ policy of Judenrein (the exclusion of Jews in Vienna and Berlin in 1938 and 1939).

It’s easy to understand the difficulty of coordinating such an undertaking, but when I let myself go, I could feel the depth of the tremendously difficult heart wrenching emotional decisions the Kraus’ made and the toll they must’ve taken on both of them. Look at what they needed to do; they met family after family, shook their hands, smiled, listened and in the end they picked 50 children to go with them, while knowing the plight of all the parents and children left behind was catastrophic and tragic.

Could I’ve done this? I honestly have my doubts. The strength of this couple amazes me. They had children of their own. They knew what these parents were feeling. Take a minute and just think about this burden. Then think about the choices the parents had to make; they’re just as awful.

I find the thought of sending my child away to the unknown (yes, hoping they will be safe but not knowing) while also knowing it may be the last time I see them, absolutely horrifying. On the other hand, thinking about keeping them with me in harms way, knowing each day there is a greater possibility of the whole family being sent to a work camp or killed, even worse. How conflicted and emotionally tortured were these parents? Their reality most likely was concentrating on survival, each family member’s survival. How could they all get out?

Eleanor said of the fathers, “They looked so lifeless, so hopeless, so forlorn. Only one thing seemed to be left to these men, and that was pride in their children.” She witnessed one mother, Rosa Weisz saying to her child, “If you leave, your life will be saved, and then I will have a better chance of saving my own life.”

These families were desperate; this had to work out for them. Eleanor said when they asked each of the 50 families to meet them to complete paperwork, they arrived two hours earlier to prepare, but when they got there, the 50 families had already been waiting there for two hours. I could feel the goose pumps on my arms just reading about this. Sure, they arrived four hours early, the walls were closing in on them.

In the end Gil and Eleanor picked the 50 children. Feel Eleanor’s anguish and pain she describes during their questioning. “Will you leave your mama and papa and come to America with us? And each time the question was asked, I died a little more.”

I was emotional while reading this book; happy, sad and in awe of the courage of these two ordinary citizens, destined to be heroes. Read Steven Pressman’s book to learn about this rescue and the European and American political environment during this period. It is thought provoking. If interested in buying the book, at this time, Bookoutlet.com and Walmart are selling it for under $7. The other vendors I checked were higher.

Keep reading, learning and thinking.