The Heart Has Reasons by Mark Klempner

Praise for The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage

“A book to restore one's faith in the possibility of human goodness.”
—Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People

“No one knows what this 21st century will bring, hope or horror. The brave people Klempner profiles in this gripping book show us there can be hope, even amid horror.”
—Pete Seeger, legendary folk singer

“Like no other work I have read, Klempner's deeply moving book puts a human face on the Holocaust rescuers.”
—Christopher R. Browning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, author of Ordinary Men and The Origins of the Final Solution

“In these pages you will meet profound, uplifting people whose iron devotion to human caring compelled them to risk everything to shelter, hide, and save the vulnerable. You will not stop thinking about them after you finish reading, for Mark Klempner gracefully, hauntingly, invites the most intimate reflection on the moral struggles echoing from the Holocaust into the troubled present.”
—David K. Shipler, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land

“I read Mark Klempner's book with great interest, and with gratitude that he collected these accounts from a generation of remarkable people who are now leaving us. It is so important that we hear their stories and tell their stories to young people again and again.”
—Lois Lowry, Newbery Award winning author of Number the Stars

“We need to know that there are transformed people, even in the midst of a world that seems to avoid renewal, resurrection, and transformation. Hope becomes personal, concrete, and believable in these marvelous stories.”
—Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, author of Radical Grace

“A work of both agonizing history and hopeful prophecy…Klempner's beautifully intimate portraits illuminate the sanctuary of the loving heart, the place from which the Dutch rescuers performed their courageous deeds in quietness and strength.”
—Rev. Mark I. Wallace, Swarthmore College, author of Fragments of the Spirit

“An invaluable book for anyone who seeks to learn—or relearn—the art of compassionate resistance. With America tempted to empire as never before, Klempner's account of those who could have been players in the game of ‘Aryan supremacy’ but chose instead to subvert it comes at a crucial time. ”
—Garret Keizer, author of Help: The Original Human Dilemma

“Nothing enlivens history more than personal testimony. These oral histories of individual resistance to Nazism in Holland are extraordinary contributions not only to Holocaust Studies but to the fields of psychology, sociology, education and political science. Told by a wonderful assortment of men and women, they are also compelling stories that elicit both laughter and tears.”
—Helen Epstein, author of Children of the Holocaust and Where She Came From

“Powerful stories that can inspire us in our current time. They remind us that even in the most difficult circumstances we still can make choices that matter.”
—Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time

©2009 Mark Klempner