Immerse yourself in a special city tour of Berlin that will take you to places where unsung heroes rescued Jewish fellow human beings during the Nazi era. Amidst persecution, fear, and hatred, there were people who refused to look away – people who provided help even though they themselves were at risk.
To begin the tour, we will meet you at a centrally located meeting point in Berlin-Mitte. After a brief introduction to the historical context, we will set off on a walking tour that will take you to the actual locations where these events took place.
You will learn about courageous men and women who, out of compassion, religious conviction, or human conscience, hid Jewish people, provided for them, or saved them from deportation. One of the stops tells the extraordinary story of Dr. Mohammed Helmy, an Egyptian physician who was the first Arab to be honored by Yad Vashem as a “Righteous Among the Nations.”
Other stops are dedicated to the Quakers who saved Jewish children in Berlin and, through courageous support networks, made it possible for them to leave the country and find protection. The tour also highlights the women who hid Hans Rosenthal, who later became a TV show host – silent lifesavers without whose moral courage his later career would never have been possible.
You will also learn about the fates of Jehovah’s Witnesses who, despite being persecuted themselves, helped Jewish friends, as well as neighbors, doctors, pastors, and strangers who showed humanity in dark times. You will stand at doors, in backyards and by commemorative plaques – places that seem unremarkable today but were once the scenes of great moral courage.
The tour is accompanied by powerful quotes, archival material, and opportunities for questions and discussion. Your guide will lead you through this moving story with sensitivity and in-depth knowledge, without sentimentality but with palpable depth.
In the end, you will not only have seen places, but, more importantly, you will have met people who show that, even in the darkest of times, rays of hope were possible.
