Stand Alone
Format: Audio Book
Rating: 3 Stars
How I Got It: Borrowed from the Library (Overdrive)
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Beacon Press/Tantor Media
Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads
In 1939, the Reverend
Waitstill Sharp, a young Unitarian minister, and his wife, Martha, a
social worker, accepted a mission from the American Unitarian
Association: they were to leave their home and young children in
Wellesley, Massachusetts, and travel to Prague, Czechoslovakia, to help
address the mounting refugee crisis. Seventeen ministers had been asked
to undertake this mission and had declined; Rev. Sharp was the first to
accept the call for volunteers in Europe.
Armed with only $40,000, Waitstill and Martha quickly learned the art of spy craft and undertook dangerous rescue and relief missions across war-torn Europe, saving refugees, political dissidents, and Jews on the eve of World War II. After narrowly avoiding the Gestapo themselves, the Sharps returned to Europe in 1940 as representatives of the newly formed Unitarian Service Committee and continued their relief efforts in Vichy France.
A fascinating portrait of resistance as told through the story of one courageous couple, Defying the Nazis offers a rare glimpse at high-stakes international relief efforts during WWII and tells the remarkable true story of a couple whose faith and commitment to social justice inspired them to risk their lives to save countless others.
Armed with only $40,000, Waitstill and Martha quickly learned the art of spy craft and undertook dangerous rescue and relief missions across war-torn Europe, saving refugees, political dissidents, and Jews on the eve of World War II. After narrowly avoiding the Gestapo themselves, the Sharps returned to Europe in 1940 as representatives of the newly formed Unitarian Service Committee and continued their relief efforts in Vichy France.
A fascinating portrait of resistance as told through the story of one courageous couple, Defying the Nazis offers a rare glimpse at high-stakes international relief efforts during WWII and tells the remarkable true story of a couple whose faith and commitment to social justice inspired them to risk their lives to save countless others.
Review
This was an interesting story. It blended the Sharps personal and "professional" life very well. And it was eye-opening. Now, I don't read a lot about the Nazis and World War II, but I've been exposed to a decent amount through school.
But it does show me that through all the horror there were people helping. I had never heard of the Sharps before, but they did a brave and admirable thing. Anyone who helped someone escape the Germans/Nazis should be remembered.
Thanks for reading!
Holly
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