Susan Zuccotti. Père Marie-Benoît and Jewish Rescue: How a French Priest Together with Jewish Friends Saved Thousands during the Holocaust.

Abstract

In the past decade, the reasons for the rescue and the survival of Jews have been increasingly studied by Holocaust scholars. This new interest has gone along with methodological innovations. Susan Zuccotti participates fully in this renewal but chooses to do so with a very classical tool: biography. Her new book tells the story of Pierre Péteul/Père Marie-Benoît's life before, during, and after the Second World War, and argues that “[s]uch background material is essential to an understanding of what Pére Marie-Benoît and his friends were able to accomplish” (p. 5). The story of Father Marie-Benoît's behavior during the Holocaust has long been known. The Capuchin monk saved the lives of hundreds of Jews in Marseille, Nice, and Rome between 1942 and 1944. He was recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations as soon as 1966. However, as a historian of France, Italy, and the Catholic Church during the Holocaust, Zuccotti manages to go far beyond the usual hagiographic portrait. She offers a genuine case study of the social factors that led to the rescue and survival of Jews.