Dr. Ervin Staub said, “Goodness, like evil, often begins in small steps. Heroes evolve; they aren’t born” (Choosing to Participate, Facing History and Ourselves, p. 30). What does it take to make someone a hero? What propels each one of us to become an “upstander” (Facing History and Ourselves), to take the steps from sympathy to action?
Our Spotlight feature this week is on a true Upstander. Juliette Stern (1893-1963) was a strong Zionist, feminist, and heroine. As Secretary General of the French Federation of WIZO and Youth Aliyah, she was instrumental in helping Jewish youth escape Nazi-controlled Europe to settle in Palestine. As director of social welfare for the Union Générale des Israélites de France, she secretly arranged for the safety and rescue of more than one thousands Jewish children orphaned by their parents’ deportations.
Read her biography, an account of her activities, and her friendship with Henrietta Szold in Juliette Stern: A Jewish Women in Search of Her People.
In our Featured Video view a 1924 film of Palestine (Israel) as it looked during Juliette’s visits to Palestine.
In our Featured Document section read a 1944 post from the JTA about the children Juliette rescued being reunited with their parents.