Nonfiction

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WOW WOW WOW WOW. Where do I even begin with this review. First of all, the four men this is written about are true heroes and truly badass. Animated like a classic comic book and even is “narrated” by Lee Falk, the creator of the Phantom comics. Broken up into four stories about four men who helped get the news about the Holocaust to America and try to stop the Nazi war on Jews. Each story had my heart racing, tears starting, and honestly I don’t think I blinked this entire book. Random thoughts while reading: It is wild that Alan Cranston was only 24 during the time he printed “the book Hitler didn’t want you to read” ( an ACTUAL English translation of the German Mein Kampf). The Captain aboard the St. Louis was a total badass and refused to let the Jewish refugee passengers go back to Germany if they could not find refuge in Cuba. I absolutely love that there is a real life bio at the end of each story telling you about the actual person the story was written about. It’s heartbreaking that all these men thought that they didn’t do that much to help them in the end (limitations out of their control), but in reality they saved tens of thousands of Jewish people. America sucks. Wild how history is repeating itself – another genocide and America refusing to step in and help even though that’s literally what the foundation of this country was supposed to be built on *insert major eye roll* Absolutely incredible read overall, especially if you are interested in WWII. I am not sure why the stories of these four men are not taught in school, but more people need to be made aware of their courageous stories.

Whistleblowers: Four Who Fought to Expose the Holocaust to America by Rafael Medoff, (List Price: $19.99, Dark Horse Books, 9781506737607, FEbruary 2024)

Reviewed by Stephanie St. John, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia