Holocaust, resistance and religion

Which groups resisted the persecution of Jews during the Second World War? In the recently published book “Protectors of Pluralism: Christian Minorities and the Rescue of Jews during the Holocaust” sociologist Robert Braun (University of California at Berkeley) shows that religious minorities offered more help to Jews. The assistance was greater among both Protestants in Belgium and Catholics in predominantly Protestant areas of the Netherlands. These minorities had well-organized illegal networks and felt more closely connected with the persecuted.

Braun bases his findings on unpublished archive sources and on statistical research using various data collections, including LOKSTAT. The Quetelet Center made unique datasets about the population, elections and church attendance in Belgium available for the research.

Book:

Braun, Robert. “Protectors of Pluralism: Christian Minorities and the Rescue of Jews during the Holocaust.” Cambridge University Press, 2019.