Resisting Genocide: The Multiple Forms of Rescue

by Jacques Sémelin (Editor), Claire Andrieu (Editor), Sarah Gensburger (Editor)

Every genocide in history has been notable for the minority of brave individuals and groups who put their own lives at risk to rescue its would be victims. Based on three case studies--the genocides of the Armenians, the Jews and the Rwandese Tutsi--this book is the first international comparative and multidisciplinary attempt to make rescue an object of research, while breaking free of the notion of "The Righteous Among the Nations." The result is an exceptionally rich and disturbing volume. While it is impossible to distill or describe what makes an individual into a rescuer, acts of rescue reveal a historical the existence of an informal, underground network of rescuers-- however fragile--as soon as genocides get underway, and in every geographical and social context.

456 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Jacques Semelin ou Sémelin, né le 14 avril 1951 au Plessis-Robinson, est un historien et politologue français. Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS affecté au Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (CERI), il est spécialiste des génocides et des violences extrêmes, des formes de résistances civiles et de sauvetage, et de la survie des Juifs en France durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Depuis 1998, il enseigne à Sciences Po Paris où il a créé un cours pionnier sur les violences de masse.