Författarbild

Samuel P. Oliner (1930–2021)

Författare till The Altruistic Personality: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe

13 verk 173 medlemmar 1 recension

Om författaren

Samuel P. Oliner is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Humboldt State University Arcata, California.

Verk av Samuel P. Oliner

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
1930-03-10
Avled
2021-11-17
Kön
male
Nationalitet
USA
Poland (birth)
Födelseort
Zyndranowa, Poland
Bostadsorter
New York, New York, USA
Berkeley, California, USA
Arcata, California, USA
Utbildning
University of California, Berkeley (PhD)
Brooklyn College
Bunce Court School
Yrken
professor of sociology
author
public speaker
Holocaust survivor
journal founder
memoirist (visa alla 7)
sociologist
Organisationer
Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute (founder)
Kort biografi
Samuel P. Oliner was born to a Jewish family in Zyndranowa, Poland, a village near the Czech border in the Carpathan Mountains. His parents were Jaffa and Aron Oliner and he had an older brother and sister. His mother died when he was seven, and he was raised on the small farm belonging to his maternal grandparents Reisel and Isak Polster. In July 1942, during Nazi Germany's occupation of the country in World War II, his family was forced into a ghetto in Bobowa under nightmarish conditions. Twelve-year-old Oliner frequently sneaked out to search for food for the family. On August 14, the Nazis rounded up the Jewis, including Oliner's whole family, and murdered them in the nearby forest. Oliner escaped into the countryside and took a new identity as a Polish Catholic. He lived and worked on a farm with a Polish couple for the remainder of the war. Afterwards, he left Poland and spent some time in a displaced persons camp. He moved to England, where in 1946 he began his formal education at Bunce Court School, a progressive German-Jewish boarding school relocated to Kent. In 1950, he emigrated to the USA with the help of relatives, settling in New York City. Shortly after his arrival, Oliner was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War. He attended Brooklyn College on the G.I. Bill, and met his future wife, Pearl Merkur. The couple married in 1956 and had three sons. In 1957, the Oliners moved to California, where Sam and Pearl each received a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Together they became professors at Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt). Oliner was professor and chair of Sociology, and well-loved by students, staff, and colleagues during his 30 years there. In 1973, he started the Humboldt Journal of Social Relations. Sam and Pearl co-founded the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute at Humboldt in 1982. He appeared on numerous television shows and lectured widely in the USA and other countries on the topic of rescuers of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. He was the author or co-author of nine books and numerous scholarly publications focusing on the subject of altruism and why some people risk their lives to help others. He continued to write and publish until the age of 91. He recounted his own wartime ordeals in his memoir Restless Memories (1979, 1986), later retitled Narrow Escapes (2000).

Medlemmar

Recensioner

Samuel Oliner and Kathleen Lee have have written a compelling and important book regarding the Holocaust. The details in Who Shall Live: The Wilhelm Bachner Story, were obtained from first-hand accounts, beginning with the account of Wilhelm Bachner, a Polish Jew.

Bachner managed to gain a job with a German architectural company by posing as an Aryan. With an engineering degree from a German university and the ability to speak flawless German he was hired to headed a group of construction workers. This afforded him a pass by which he could leave and reenter the Warsaw ghetto at the close of the workday to be with his wife and extended family.

During his employment with the architectural firm, he was able to rescue dozens of Polish Jews by having them pose as Aryans, and by giving them false work permits, false identity papers and and other false identifying documents. He hired some as construction workers, working in the very company he worked in, some he gave clerical jobs to, and others he found work for in other capacities. He also managed to hide others with reputable and trustworthy individuals.

His fierce determination and courage saw him through the most adverse of situations, and he never waivered when he saw an opportunity to save a Jew. There were times when his very existence and identity were questioned, but with his strong will he learned to be assertive, almost aggressive, with the SS and other members of the military under Hitler’s command. His identity papers, his university degree, individual Germans who verbally vouched for him, and the fact that the company he worked for was important to Hitler’s cause, saw him through the worst of times.

He and his wife managed to emigrate to California in 1951. His story is told through interviews given by him before he died in 1991, and by interviews with relatives. Interviews were also provided by surviving Jews that he saved, and through their family members. Documents were photographed from archives, and research was painstakingly done in archives.

Samuel Oliner and Kathleen Lee left no stone unturned in telling the story of Bachner, along with the story of his family members. The dozens of Jews he rescued were more than willing to tell the story of how Wilhelm Bachner was the primary force in their survival.

The historical value behind Who Shall Live: The Wilhelm Bachner Story is extremely important, as it focuses on the fact that there was Jewish resistance to the horrific events that unfolded during the Holocaust. In my opinion Who Shall Live: The Wilhelm Bachner story belongs in every public library, every college and university library, and every personal library. It’s importance as a historical telling can not be emphasized enough.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
LorriMilli | Jul 15, 2011 |

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Associerade författare

Pearl M. Oliner Joint Author

Statistik

Verk
13
Medlemmar
173
Popularitet
#123,688
Betyg
½ 4.3
Recensioner
1
ISBN
15
Språk
2

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