Unproblematic Altruists?:Protestant Rescuers in World War II Testimonies and Historiography.

RESCUE of Jews, 1939-1945; PROTESTANTS; WORLD War II; JEWS; HOLOCAUST, 1939-1945; FRENCH Resistance, 1940-1945; GERMAN occupation of France, 1940-1945; HOSPITALITY; HISTORIOGRAPHY of the Holocaust, 1939-1945; RELIGION; HISTORY

POITOU-Charentes (France); AUVERGNE (France); FRANCEReport Available

This article examines the ways in which values associated with Protestant rescuers have impacted the historiography of the rescue during the Holocaust and the testimonies of witnesses. It considers two regions, the Poitou and the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon, to analyze three moral assumptions: the rescuer as resister, as generous host, and as respectful Christian. Using anthropological approaches to hospitality, it reveals the shortcomings of these assumptions. First, the association of rescue and resistance, though understandable, obscures the chronology, the unevenness, and the relative safety of Protestant involvement in the rescue. Second, the rescuers' assumed generosity simplifies the reciprocity at work in hospitality as well as the materiality of the rescue. Third, a systematic characterization of rescue as altruism or expression of philo-Semitism prevents a more complex exploration of the relationships between Protestant hosts and Jewish guests. In particular, hospitality as a form of rescue could certainly generate mutual appreciation, but also acculturation and tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]