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Of the countless stories of resistance, ingenuity, and personal risk to emerge in the years following the Holocaust, among the most remarkable, yet largely overlooked, are those of the hundreds of Jewish deportees who escaped from moving trains bound for the extermination camps. In France, Belgium, and the Netherlands alone over 750 men, women and children undertook such dramatic escape attempts, despite the extraordinary uncertainty and physical danger they often faced. Drawing upon extensive interviews and a wealth of new historical evidence, Escapees gives a fascinating collective account of this hitherto neglected form of resistance to Nazi persecution.
“In this unique contribution to Holocaust studies, Fransecky, a researcher for the Federal Archives in Berlin, integrates short but intense synopses of Jewish history into accounts of Nazi deportation trains. Supported by primary sources, interviews, solid secondary sources, and often overlooked archival sources, including newly available material from the International Tracing Service (now the Arolsen Archives), the text uncovers several trends regarding Jews who sought refuge from Nazi persecution in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands….Recommended.” • Choice
“Von Fransecky has written an impressive, detailed study, very well researched, containing many spectacular histories showing how Jews took significant risks to survive, and a thoughtful analysis of the memories and the mixed emotions of Holocaust survivors. The individual histories are useful in teaching about the crucial moments that could define life or death, and inspire reflection about the possibilities for everyone to try to recognize forms of resistance against injustice today.” • Central European History
“Fransecky’s accounts of the individual escapes offer an interesting and important addition to Holocaust literature.” • Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Tanja von Fransecky earned her doctorate in 2013 from the Center for Resarch on Antisemitism at the Technische Universität Berlin. Her most recent book, on aid to persecuted Dutch Jews, was published in 2016 by Lukas Verlag. She is responsible for the "Documentation of Jewish Persecution" section of the Federal Archives in Berlin.
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Deportations from Western Europe
Chapter 2. Escapes by Jews from Deportation Trains in France
Chapter 3. Escapes by Jews from Deportation Trains in Belgium
Chapter 4. Escapes by Jews from Deportation Trains in the Netherlands
Chapter 5. Summary
Concluding Observations
Sources and Bibliography
Indexes