A review by josiahrichardson
Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War by Artemis Joukowsky

4.0

This was a really interesting story of a Unitarian minister and his wife being approached by the US Government to act as sort of a modern day Harriet Tubman - going into Germany and sneaking Jews out. As to be expected, this was very dangerous and they encountered many setbacks along the way. When they came back to the USA, very few knew what they ever did. But the war raged on and more Jews needed saving, and so they were asked to go back again. They did and it put much strain on their family life, eventually leading to divorce. It was hard on their children, who were left behind for years as their parent fulfilled this secret mission. It was difficult on their marriage, because both were forever changed in what they saw in Nazi Germany and came to find their identity in this type of work, letting things like marital relationships melt away.

All in all, a really interesting story. There is an accompanying documentary from PBS that goes along with this book and it is also worth watching.