Superheroes of the Holocaust
Definition: Individuals who acted as UpStanders. An UpStander is someone who acts to
confront prejudice or injustice in the face of persecution and adversity, in this case, specifically
during the time of the Holocaust (1933-1945).
Scope: These individuals are real life people who acted as Superheroes/UpStanders during the
time of extreme adversity and persecution. These incredible Superheroes did not possess
special powers or fictional characteristics instead they possess the amazing strength, courage,
and love that exist inside all of us. These individuals should be limited to those that were in the
Holocaust or that lived during the Holocaust era (1933-1945) and have a connection to the
Holocaust.
*Source: Chutz-Pow! International Superheroes of the Holocaust Exhibit- Superhero
Suggested Inspirations:
1) Les Banos / The Immaculate Deception
a. Les Banos was born on August 16, 1923 in Nyirbator, Hungary, to a Jewish
father and a Christian mother. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he
was sent to live with his maternal Aunt Margit and her husband Bela in
Budapest until he was six years old. When he was in first grade, two men
from the courts came to Banos’s classroom at the Heart Street Elementary
School. Banos was not aware that his father and his aunt and uncle were in
the midst of a custody battle, and that the courts ruled he had to move back
to Nyirbator to live with his father. Banos’s life as he knew it was shattered,
and for the next eight years, he lived with his father, stepmother and
stephbrother. Before he returned to Nyirbator when he was six and a half
years old, Banos had never met his father. Banos’s stepmother resented his
presence from the start, and she made this very clear to him. When he was
eight years old, she spit in his face and said, “I hate you.” Banos’s
stepbrother, Pal, comforted him by saying “Don’t cry. I love you.” From that
moment on, Banos and Pal formed a close relationship. Despite his
stepmother’s feelings toward him, her brother and parents welcomed
Banos into their lives with open arms. Banos was extremely close with his
step-uncle, Sandor. Sandor taught Banos how to take care of the family
farm, and when Sandor was called up for military service, Banos asked if he
could take his place and work on the farm. Banos stayed at his stepgrandparents farm until he was 14, at which time he was able to return to
Budapest, Hungary to live with his Aunt Margit and Uncle Bela.
*Source: Banos, L. (2009). If They Catch You You Will Die. Pittsburgh: Banos
Publishing.
b. The Immaculate Deception- In 1939, at the age of 16 and at the start of
World War II, Les Banos became involved in the Hungarian resistance
movement, and he was tasked with reporting critical information regarding
German military movement and weapons production to the Hungarian
resistance. Les spoke unaccented German, and the resistance used this to
their advantage. Les was assigned as an interpreter and driver for the
SS. He used his access to an SS car and his knowledge of German to
transport shot down pilots to resistance members who in turn smuggled
them across the border to allied forces in Yugoslavia. Les’ aunt and uncle
owned a factory, and they helped hide and rescue Jews and others being
persecuted by the Nazis. When Soviet forces liberated Budapest in
February 1945, Banos, along with Raoul Wallenberg, were arrested on
suspicion of espionage. Banos was able to escape, but Wallenberg was
never seen again. His fate remains unknown today. Banos eventually
moved to Pittsburgh, where he became a famous sports photographer. He
passed away on April 22, 2012.
*Source: Chutz-Pow! International Superheroes of the Holocaust ExhibitLes Banos
*Source: Chutz-Pow! Superheroes of the Holocaust Comic
c. Additional Helpful Information:
i. http://iwitness.usc.edu/SFI/Watch.aspx?testimonyID=4003&segme
ntNumber=0&returnIndex=0&contentView=1&pg=2
ii. http://www.wqed.org/tv/watch/onq/?id=262
2) Sophie Scholl / The White Rose
a. Sophie Scholl was born in Forchtenberg, Germany on May 9, 1921. Sophie
enjoyed learning, spending time outside, art, theology, and being with her
family. Sophie and her older brother Hans, like most young Germans at that
time, were part of the Hitler Youth. Shortly after joining, Sophie and Hans
became disillusioned with the politics and anti-Jewish doctrine of the Nazi
Party, and they grew increasingly frustrated about the direction in which
their country was going. In 1942, Hans, Sophie, and their friends Christoph
Probst, Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell and their Professor Kurt Huber
formed the White Rose, a non-violent resistance group that spoke out
against the Nazis mass atrocities and their crimes against
humanity. Members of the White Rose wrote and distributed anti-Nazi
leaflets urging their fellow Germans to oppose Hitler and the Nazis. After
the Russian army defeated the Nazis at Stalingrad in January 1943 Sophie
and Hans placed anti-Nazi leaflets in the hallways of the University of
Munich. The leaflets urged the students to rebel against the oppressive
regime they were living under. Sophie and Hans were caught and arrested
by the Gestapo. Roland Freisler, a notorious Nazi judge and President of the
People’s Court tried Sophie, Hans and Christoph (who was also arrested).
They were sentenced to death.
*Source: Chutz-Pow! International Superheroes of the Holocaust ExhibitSophie Scholl
b. The White Rose was a German resistance group founded in 1942 by core
members Jurgen Wittenstein, Alexander Schmorell, Hellmut Hartert, Hans
Scholl, and Sophie Scholl. The origin of the name the White Rose is
unknown but unknown, it is clear that it stands for purity and innocence in
the face of evil. The first activities of the White Rose included writing four
leaflets entitled, Leaflets of the White Rose which were distributed via mail
or in telephone booths all over Germany. The leaflets denounced the Nazi
regime and included information that spoke out against Nazi genocidal
policies. It was during this time when Hans’ younger sister and roommate
Sophie Scholl wanted to become involved in the White Rose. Hans initially
resisted the idea of Sophie’s involvement as he feared for her safety but
eventually he gave in and Sophie became an integral part of the White Rose
and the leaflet making process and eventually as a leaflet courier as female
members of the White Rose were generally couriers. It is important to note
that all of the White Rose’s activities were illegal and the resources that the
members depended on for the creation of the leaflets were extremely
expensive, cumbersome, and difficult to purchase; “Everything had to be
obtained discreetly, in small quantities, preferably at different
locations. Copying machines had not yet been invented and hand-cranked
mimeograph machines made printing of even a few copies laborious and
time-consuming” (Wittenstein, 2004, 197). For a period of time in 1942 the
male members (including Jurgen Wittenstein and Willi Graf) of the White
Rose between the ages of 16-60 were drafted in to the German
Army. During their time in the service they witnessed first-hand some of
the events that took place at the Warsaw ghetto entrance such as a
Schutzstaffel or Protection Squadrons (SS) officer using extreme violence
against the ghetto workers who were most likely Jewish. These events had
a profound impact on these men and upon their return to Germany from
they immediately created and distributed the fifth leaflet the White Rose
now entitled Leaflets of German Resistance. However, the language and
content in the fifth leaflet changed as “we now had to call for a wider range
of active resistance.” Between six and nine thousand copies of this leaflet
were distributed throughout Germany. After Russian troops brutally
defeated German troops at Stalingrad, the White Rose felt it was time for
another leaflet. On February 18, 1943, Hans and Sophie took a suitcase full
of leaflets to the University of Munich, urging students to rebel. Realizing
they still had copies in the suitcase, they made a fatal decision and decided
to throw the remainder of the leaflets over a banister and into a
courtyard. A custodian caught them, locked the doors to the building so
they could not escape, and called the Gestapo. Many of the members of
the White Rose, including Hans and Sophie Scholl, were then arrested and
eventually killed. Jurgen Wittenstein was questioned by the Gestapo
(German secret state police) and released, and, knowing he would be
questioned again, he volunteered to go to the front. Amazingly, the sixth
leaflet was smuggled out of Germany, and the allies dropped millions of
copies over the country.
*Source: Wittenstein, G. (2004). The White Rose: A Commitment. In J. J.
Michalcyzk (Ed.) Confront!: Resistance in Nazi Germany (pp. 191 - 209). New
York: P. Lang.
c. Additional Helpful Information:
i. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21521060
ii. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1751313/White-Rose
iii. Dumbach, A. E., & Newborn, J. (2007). Sophie Scholl and the White
Rose (Rev., expanded ed.). Oxford: Oneworld Pub.
iv. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007188
v. Wittenstein, G. (2004). The White Rose: A Commitment. In J. J.
Michalcyzk (Ed.) Confront!: Resistance in Nazi Germany (pp. 191 209). New York: P. Lang.
3) Chavka Folman Raban / Gymnasia of the Dror / Jewish Fighting Organization
(ZOB)
a. Chavka Folman Raban was born in Poland in 1924 and from a young age
resided in Warsaw. At the age of 15 she joined the "Dror" Labor Zionist
Youth Movement and trained as a courier. She joined the "Jewish Fighting
Force" and thanks to her non-Jewish looks, she was relatively free to leave
the ghetto and travel throughout Poland as a courier under a false identity.
She conveyed weapons, materials for preparing documents and information
into the ghetto. In December 1942 she was apprehended and sent to
Auschwitz- Birkenau as a political prisoner (at the time, her Jewish identity
was not disclosed) but was transferred to Ravensbrueck, from where she
was liberated in April 1945. After wandering through Denmark and Sweden,
she returned to Poland, where reunited with her mother, she worked as an
emissary for the Dror Movement. Chawka made aliyah to Kibbutz Yagur in
October 147, married Yehezkiel Raban and in April 1948, was among the
founders of Kibbutz Lochamei Hagetaot. She worked as a teacher and guide
at the "Ghetto Fighters Museum", accompanied youth delegations to
Poland and spoke on behalf of the ghetto fighters at the traditional closing
ceremony during the country's Holocaust Remembrance Day. She felt it was
important that young people study the Holocaust by direct contact with
Holocaust survivors.
*Source: http://arielyannay.com/en/gallery/her-story-havka/
*Source:
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/newsletter/18/couriers.asp
b. Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB or Jewish Fighting Organization)- A
surviving group of mostly young people formed an organization called the
Z.O.B. (for the Polish name, Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa, which means
Jewish Fighting Organization). The Z.O.B., led by 23-year-old Mordecai
Anielewicz, issued a proclamation calling for the Jewish people to resist
going to the railroad cars. In January 1943, Warsaw ghetto fighters fired
upon German troops as they tried to round up another group of ghetto
inhabitants for deportation. Fighters used a small supply of weapons that
had been smuggled into the ghetto. After a few days, the troops retreated.
This small victory inspired the ghetto fighters to prepare for future
resistance.
Source:
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007745
c. Additional Helpful Information:
i. http://www.gfh.org.il/Eng/?CategoryID=349&ArticleID=585&Search
Param=Havka+Folman+Raban
ii. http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Death-of-aheroine-337818
iii. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Z-9SL8zvY