Thousands survived the Holocaust because of the daring chances these rescuers took. In total their number is statistically small, rescuers were all colossal people. Rescuers were peasants and nannies, aristocrats and clergy, bakers and doctors, social workers and storekeepers, diplomats and grandmothers. They were from many countries, the Netherlands, the Ukraine, Poland, France and other nations. Rescuers viewed Jews and other victims not as the enemy, but as human beings. Rescuers were able to accept people who were different than themselves. They also held the conviction that what one person did could make a difference. After rescuers found ways to help they took action. Sometimes the entire transformation from bystander to rescuer took just seconds. Rescuing could be anything from leaving food regularly by a ghetto fence, to hiding someone within one's house for several years, to creating a bureaucracy which allowed thousands of Jews to emigrate. .
Those who decided to be a rescuer in the Holocaust were people who wanted to always be remembered in helping others. Sometimes, however, people wouldn't listen to their helpful warnings. Moshe the Beadle was a witness to some killings. He survived and came back to warn people. "People refused not only to believe his stories, but even to listen to them" (Night 4). People were afraid to face what might be the truth so they didn't listen to Moshe. A rescuer could be a person who saves just one life, yet even that makes a difference. One night Elie felt someone suffocating him. His father woke and saw this. "Too weak to overcome him, he had the idea of calling Meir Katz" (Night 96). Meir Katz saved Elie's life. While standing in a line at Birkenau one of the prisoners gave them advice that would save their lives. "No, not fifty. Forty. Do you understand? Eighteen and forty" (Night 28). Being these ages would keep them alive.
