I recently read The Fortunate Ones, a novel by Ellen Umansky, about a child sent by her parents on a kinderstransport to England to escape the Nazi regime and its persecution of Jews. Fifty Children deals with an American couple from Philadelphia, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, who arranged for 50 children to travel from Vienna to the United States in 1939 to rescue them from almost certain death in German concentration camps.
Theirs was a mission against formidable odds. There was a wave of anti-Semitism in America, a general reluctance to allow foreigners into the country, and President Roosevelt who, while sympathetic to the cause, did not want to alter the number of immigrants allowed into the country. Even some Jews opposed the Kraus’ plan to enter Nazi Germany to extract the children, afraid that it would arouse more anti-Semitism.
What made it even more problematic was the cooperation between Austrian and German civilians, which did not auger well for the Jews of Vienna. The Nazi policy was to make Austria free of Jews, and the Austrians did not protest this decree. One child as an adult many years later hauntingly said about this particular moment in time. “ Everybody could get out. Nobody would let us in. Everyone could have been saved.”
In spite of these hurdles, Gilbert and Eleanor travel to Nazi-controlled Vienna and then to Berlin to secure safe passage for the children. The film is based upon the first person memoir of Eleanor Kraus whose granddaughter, Liz Perle, gave the manuscript to Steven Pressman, the filmmaker. The film uses archival footage as well as contemporary interviews with some of the children who were members of the 50 children group.
The Kraus’s strategy began with a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State George Messersmith, who was sympathetic to the Kraus’s request. Then they had to find a place to house the children in the United States until arrangements could be made for foster families to take them. Moreover, they had to collect 50 affidavits from American families willing to take in one of the children. Furthermore, they had to interview the children to determine to best candidates to take. This they did with the help of Dr. Robert Schless, their American physician, who spoke fluent German. Finally, they obtained 50 passports for the children to make the voyage to their new home.
50 Children raises the issue of rescue at what cost. How much risk should one take to save the life of another? In Jewish law, it is clear that one should come to the rescue of another even if it involves some minimal danger to life and spending one’s financial resources. The basic Torah source is the statement in Leviticus 19:16: “Thou shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.” Our Sages tell us that saving one life is tantamount to saving the world, a very meritorious deed.
Aaron Kirschenbaum, Professor of Jewish Law at Tel Aviv University, writes that, according to Jewish Law, one does not have to give up one’s life to save another. However, one should not focus only on protecting oneself when someone else’s life is at stake. Every case has to be evaluated on its singular merits. Speed is critical and to hesitate in helping may even be sinful.
Kirschenbaum cites the late Benjamin Cardozo, a legal scholar: “Danger invites rescue. The cry of distress is the summons to relief.” To help someone whose life is in danger is a manifestation of the Jewish spirit.
Furthermore, Kirschenbaum cites Maimonides who does not limit the obligation to rescue to actually finding someone in dire straits. Rather, he expands the requirement of rescue to include anyone who is simply aware of danger to somebody’s life. What is critical is determining whether one actually has the ability to successfully save another’s life.
Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus assume that they can rescue the 50 children in spite of the odds. Their optimism and willingness to take risks in the face of huge obstacles serves as an example of the good that can be done in times of crisis.
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