Resisting the Storm: Romania, 1940-1947.

Jerusalem, Israel Yad Vashem, 1987. Hardcover First Ed, unstated. SIGNED BY AUTHOR. First Ed, unstated. Very Good: shows very light wear to extremities; mild rubbing; slight spine lean and the binding is also somewhat cocked; a split at the bottom two inches of the frong hinge gutter has been carefully repaired by the previous owner and appears to hold perfectly. Binding secure; text clean. Despite noted flaws, remains clean, sturdy, and quite presentable. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 464pp. Cream paper over boards, printed in red and white. [32] p. of plates. Bibliographical references. Edited and Annotated by Jean Ancel. Hardback: Cream Paper over Boards. Alexandre Safran (1910-2006), a Romanian and, after 1948, Swiss rabbi, who as chief rabbi of Romania (1939-1948) intervened with authorities in the fascist government of Ion Antonescu in an unusually successful attempt to save Jews during the Holocaust. Safran was born in Bacau and received his doctorate in philosophy from Vienna University in 1933. He briefly succeeded his father as rabbi in Bacau before becoming the chief rabbi of Romania in 1940. He was then the youngest chief rabbi in the world. In September 1940 Romania allied to Nazi Germany and, under Nazi influence, had begun to introduce anti-Jewish laws. In 1941, Safran and Romania's Union of the Jewish Communities, through the intervention of Nicodim Munteanu, the patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, convinced Antonescu to revoke an order forcing Jews to wear the yellow badge. Shortly thereafter, the government dissolved all Jewish organizations, so Safran and other Jewish leaders formed an underground Jewish Council. In 1942, Safran used his contacts with ambassadors (notably the Swiss René de Weck), the queen mother Elena, and church officials, including the papal nuncio Andrea Cassulo, to convince Antonescu to resist German demands for the wholesale deportation of Jews. As World War II continued, the Jewish Council organized efforts to aid and lobby of the return of Jews deported to Transnistria. About 57 percent of Greater Romania's pre-war Jewish population of about 800,000 survived the war. In 1945 he worked with composer George Enescu to raise relief funds for Romanian famine, including a United States tour. However, Safran refused to cooperate with Communist authorities after the war, and, in 1947, was forced into exile in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1948, he became chief rabbi of Geneva, where he remained until his death. There he worked with United Nations, Red Cross, and other organization to improve human rights. He wrote several books including this memoir, published in Romanian in 1995. His best known writing is on the Kabalah. He was elected an honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 1997. He is buried in Israel beside his wife, Sarah. They had a son (Avinoam) and a daughter (Esther). SIGNED BY AUTHOR.