When Courage Prevailed: The Rescue and Survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia 1941-1945

by Esther Gitman

A historical study of the treatment of Jews in Yugoslavia after Nazi ideology was adopted, with an emphasis on the ways Jews survived and were rescued by those who put their own lives in great peril.

When Courage Prevailed examines the ways Jews were rescued and survived in a country in which the Ustaše, with their roots in Yugoslavia’s nationality conflicts and politics, adopted the Nazi ideology, which emphasized that there could be no compromise in regard to the Jewish Question and the Final Solution: no Jews deserved rescue. Survival of Jews was complicated by Yugoslavia’s dismemberment at the hands of the Axis Powers; Germany and Italy and its satellites and puppets. The Nazi propaganda machine advocated that Jews must be exterminated for the good of the Aryans which included the Volksdeutsche (Yugoslavs of German ancestry), the Croats and the Muslims.

Those who dared to defy German commands suffered severe penalties. To survive, a Jew had to be brave, resourceful, and willing to seize every opportunity for escape, and each would owe a debt of gratitude to as many as twenty helpers. Entire villages hid Jewish children. Friends and neighbors appealed to the Ministry of the Interior for the release of individuals. Employers and employees beseeched the Ministry of Finance to obtain the release of Jewish workers, employers, and managers from concentration camps. Many efforts entailed great risk. This book reveals the practical and the ethical motives animating rescue.

Three overarching variables played key roles in the nature and extent of rescue in the Independent State of Croatia, known as (NDH):

First, Nazi-instigated propaganda struggled to gain traction, even among the Ustaše, a factor attributable to the weakness of prewar antisemitism, the high rate of assimilation among Croatian Jews, especially the large number of mixed marriages—even Pavelić’s wife was half-Jewish—and to the Ustaše’s need for the Jews’ professional skills.

Second, even though the Nazis systematically exploited greed to encourage collaboration, many Croatians did not succumb to it. Their reluctance to assist the occupiers and the Ustaše, and their willingness and courage to assist the Jews, helped some of them to hold on until they could be rescued.

Third, the initiative on the part of Jews who fled to the Italian zones or to the Partisans—even at the cost of abandoning their property or members of their families—increased their odds of survival. Opportunities for escape were scarce, but they existed, and those who seized these precious moments improved their chances for survival.

Genres: Nonfiction

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2011

About the author

Esther Gitman pursued her Ph.D. in Jewish Studies on the foundation of a successful business career. She sought to understand the circumstances of the rescue and survival, including her own, of Jews from the Nazis and Ustase (Croatian fascists). Gitman returned to Sarajevo in 1945 and then moved to Israel in 1948. After the Six Day War in 1967 she and her husband relocated to Canada. Since 1972 Gitman has lived in the United States.

Reviews

[Ina Vukic · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing courage, not only of people who are written about in this phenomenal book but also of the author Esther Gitman. Esther set about finding the truth about survival of Jews in WWII Croatia, where Jews were exterminated as part of the Holocaust. She discovered via researching thousands upon thousands of documents in archives that were inaccessible during the Communist rule of Yugoslavia to discover the truth that had been covered up by the Communists after WWII. That is, that Blessed Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac of WWII Croatia, who was convicted as Nazi collaborator by the Communists, actually saved multitudes of Jews from extermination and actually worked tirelessly against the tides of horrors of the Holocaust that occurred.

The book is rich with documented paths in saving the Jews in Croatia during WWII and which truth had never before seen the light of day.

An amazing read.

[Mishka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Groundbreaking study that inspires as well as educates. Demolishes Communist-era myths about Croatian collaboration and makes the distinction between the unelected puppet regime imposed by the Nazis and the ordinary citizens who risked their lives to save Jews from the 'Final Solution'. Fascinating book, essential reading for anyone interested in Croatian history or Holocaust studies.

[Filip · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Courage Prevailed is fascinating account on how many brave people, Croatian commoners, some faschist politicians, Italians, Catholic Church and Yougoslav partisans saved Jews from faschist Ustasha regime and Nazis during carnage of WW2. Mr. Gitman is expert historian and she reaserched many documents of the era and added personal memories of some witnesess. It is simply incredible how many people saved their souls and humanity to save Jews. They risked their lives to do so, stakes were very high.
But most fascinating part of the book is about Cardinal Alojzie Stepinac, he truly is saint. He didn't hesitate to help in every way possible but at the same time not to antagonise authorities. Serbs want him to be hated but he is saint in every way. Im waiting to Vatican recognises the obvius.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know that small minority of scientists that believes that climate change isn't real? That is like what Esther Gitman is. She is educated but compromised and spreads misinformation. For instance, she asserts the Catholic Stepinac saved Jews. This claim is directly opposed by Marcus Tanner and Dr. Gideon Greif, who is one of the world's leading Holocaust experts. Dr. Greif works at Yad Vashem which is the world's principal institution of Holocaust studies. He also spent 4 years studying this very topic. His expertise and credentials vastly outweigh Gitman's. Dr. Greif actually labelled Stepinac as a "villain" because he gave power and legitimacy to the NDH and orchestrated mass forcible conversions of Serbs to Catholicism. Essentially, Stepinac was working alongside the Croatian Ustase who were aligned with Nazi Germany. The Croatian Ustase brutally murdered 1 million people including 800 000 Serbs and 40 000 Jews. Gitman's followers are well known Croatian propagandists who openly deny the Serbian, Jewish, Roma genocide. They are the same people who lament the massacre of 15 000 known as Bleiburg. Bleiburg was a retaliatory event at the end of WWII in response to the vicious genocide of one million people who were killed via extermination camps and massacres. The Ustase surrendered deliberately to the British soldiers who handed them over to the Partisan army. It was a very small retaliatory response relatively speaking. It is a shame that Gitman has wasted enormous sums of money on degrees just to espouse material that is embraced by Holocaust deniers and propagandists. My own grandparents survived the Ustase atrocities. Gitman should critically reflect on her own work.