Escapees: The History of Jews Who Fled Nazi Deportation Trains in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands - Paperback

by Tanja Von Fransecky (Author)

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.

Author Biography

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.