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Who Will Rescue Us?: The Story of the Jewish Children who Fled to France and America During the Holocaust
The first account of Jewish children’s flight from Nazi Germany to France—and their subsequent escape to America from the Vichy regime
At the eve of the Second World War, an estimated 1.6 million Jewish children lived in Nazi-occupied Europe. While 10,000 of them escaped to Britain in the Kindertransport, only some 500 found a new home in France. Here they attempted to begin again—but their refuge would all too soon become a trap.
For the first time, Laura Hobson Faure brings to life the experiences of these children, and the Jewish and non-Jewish organizations who helped them. Drawing on survivors’ testimonies as well as children’s diaries, letters, drawings, songs, and poems, Who Will Rescue Us? re-creates their complex journeys, including how some of them eventually found safety in America.
Hobson Faure paints a moving portrait of these children and their escape, uncovering their agency in the flight from Nazism—and knits together the network of the many who aided them along the way.
At the eve of the Second World War, an estimated 1.6 million Jewish children lived in Nazi-occupied Europe. While 10,000 of them escaped to Britain in the Kindertransport, only some 500 found a new home in France. Here they attempted to begin again—but their refuge would all too soon become a trap.
For the first time, Laura Hobson Faure brings to life the experiences of these children, and the Jewish and non-Jewish organizations who helped them. Drawing on survivors’ testimonies as well as children’s diaries, letters, drawings, songs, and poems, Who Will Rescue Us? re-creates their complex journeys, including how some of them eventually found safety in America.
Hobson Faure paints a moving portrait of these children and their escape, uncovering their agency in the flight from Nazism—and knits together the network of the many who aided them along the way.
- GenresHistoryWorld War II
432 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2025
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May 22, 2025
Review copy sent by publishers to review for Aspects of History magazine. All views are my own.
Who Will Rescue Us? is the first account of Jewish children’s flight from Nazi Germany to France, and subsequently to America, during the Holocaust. Combining survivors’ testimonies, children’s letters, diaries, drawings and poems with research into the individuals and organisations that sought to help them, this book is a uniquely comprehensive and extensive account of Jewish children’s escape from persecution.
Whilst much is known about the Kindertransport – a network that facilitated the escape of approximately 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe to Britain – far less attention has been paid to the smaller-scale effort that brought 500 children to France on the eve of the Second World War. France, initially seen as a refuge, quickly became a trap after falling under Nazi and Vichy control, prompting attempts to bring these children to America.
Who Will Rescue Us? is a child-centred social history, engaging in a complex story about the children and families on the run from persecution, and the individuals and organisations that helped them. Hobson Faure shows that rescue often began with Jews appealing to civil society, and that women – particularly Jewish women – leveraged their roles as caregivers to negotiate with authorities and offer aid.
Hobson Faure is unafraid to ask difficult questions, including: who was responsible for saving these children’s lives? By taking a transnational approach, she considers the journeys these children had to make in their entirety, exploring the role of their parents, the individuals and organisations within Nazi-occupied Europe and abroad (particularly in the US), and the children themselves.
Hobson Faure highlights the children’s agency in their flight from Nazism, ensuring they are no longer portrayed solely as passive victims. She shows the small, clever ways that these children helped rescue themselves, including ingenious methods of maintaining contact with absent parents, and altering their identities to survive or remain with trusted networks. In telling the story of how these children were rescued, she also informs readers of the things they lost along the way: their families, mother tongue, and sometimes even their name. She also takes care to observe, and remember, the children who were not saved, writing ‘the dead cannot provide testimonies or share their stories. Their absent voices must be recognized’.
Hobson Faure writes a compelling narrative, tracking the stories of specific children and adults to create emotional continuity and a sobering sense of loss when some can’t be saved. Her extensive research is paired with honesty about the gaps in her storytelling - often a result of missing or destroyed archives – and thoughtful hypotheses.
Hobson Faure is clear that Who Will Rescue Us? is not a story about heroes. Instead, this is a story about ordinary people doing what they could in the face of adversity, and of the networks and pseudo-families that were forged in the face of terror. It is also a story about the human cost of rescue, both for survivors and for those who could not be saved. It is a compassionate, well-researched and poignant history of survival and loss.
Who Will Rescue Us? is the first account of Jewish children’s flight from Nazi Germany to France, and subsequently to America, during the Holocaust. Combining survivors’ testimonies, children’s letters, diaries, drawings and poems with research into the individuals and organisations that sought to help them, this book is a uniquely comprehensive and extensive account of Jewish children’s escape from persecution.
Whilst much is known about the Kindertransport – a network that facilitated the escape of approximately 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe to Britain – far less attention has been paid to the smaller-scale effort that brought 500 children to France on the eve of the Second World War. France, initially seen as a refuge, quickly became a trap after falling under Nazi and Vichy control, prompting attempts to bring these children to America.
Who Will Rescue Us? is a child-centred social history, engaging in a complex story about the children and families on the run from persecution, and the individuals and organisations that helped them. Hobson Faure shows that rescue often began with Jews appealing to civil society, and that women – particularly Jewish women – leveraged their roles as caregivers to negotiate with authorities and offer aid.
Hobson Faure is unafraid to ask difficult questions, including: who was responsible for saving these children’s lives? By taking a transnational approach, she considers the journeys these children had to make in their entirety, exploring the role of their parents, the individuals and organisations within Nazi-occupied Europe and abroad (particularly in the US), and the children themselves.
Hobson Faure highlights the children’s agency in their flight from Nazism, ensuring they are no longer portrayed solely as passive victims. She shows the small, clever ways that these children helped rescue themselves, including ingenious methods of maintaining contact with absent parents, and altering their identities to survive or remain with trusted networks. In telling the story of how these children were rescued, she also informs readers of the things they lost along the way: their families, mother tongue, and sometimes even their name. She also takes care to observe, and remember, the children who were not saved, writing ‘the dead cannot provide testimonies or share their stories. Their absent voices must be recognized’.
Hobson Faure writes a compelling narrative, tracking the stories of specific children and adults to create emotional continuity and a sobering sense of loss when some can’t be saved. Her extensive research is paired with honesty about the gaps in her storytelling - often a result of missing or destroyed archives – and thoughtful hypotheses.
Hobson Faure is clear that Who Will Rescue Us? is not a story about heroes. Instead, this is a story about ordinary people doing what they could in the face of adversity, and of the networks and pseudo-families that were forged in the face of terror. It is also a story about the human cost of rescue, both for survivors and for those who could not be saved. It is a compassionate, well-researched and poignant history of survival and loss.
May 31, 2025
WHO WILL RESCUE US? reveals the struggles to save Jewish children initially in France and then the painful steps to overcome resistence in the US so that only a few hundred were granted visas to ensure their passage and survival. She has interviewed survivors personally and explored many archives to document her report. Ernest Papanek is one of the heroes and advocates for the children in France and also after he was able to come to the U.S. As a Unitarian, I was pleased to see they played a small role both in France and in the U.S. to advocate for children who were Jewish refugees. She sites the 1924 Geneva Declaration that "children should be the first to be rescued." Sadly, that was often not the priority. She highlights the role women played in the resucue efforts both in France and in the U.S. which moved them into new leadership positions. Women's public roles evolved to leading a highly political initiative to bring Jewish children into a society hostile to refugees and Jews. One example was feminist journalist Louise Weiss. (Chapter 3) Several chilren kept a diary to record their feelings and observations. One home was in the town of Eaubonne. Pictures document the children.
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