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Once thrown into an environment of uncertainty like the Holocaust, the brain reverts back to its survival instincts. Most people feared for their lives too much and saved only themselves. On the other hand, there were people like Miep Gies, who generously risked her life to save others. Rescuers of the Holocaust put their lives on the line everyday to save even one Jewish person. They gave up food, shelter, and safety to save others. Some even lost something more important then material objects. They lost their will to forgive others, their emotions, and their ability to feel safe. Holocaust rescuers, some members of the Resistance and others working independently, were able to save numerous Jewish people from certain death, but could not save themselves from the emotional trauma that would ensue caused by years of constant danger.
When you are a teenager you feel a shot of confidence when you back mouth a teacher or parent. The same confidence happens when an anti-Nazi rescuer makes a sly comment against an officer. They know it is dangerous and could cost them their lives but can not seem to stop themselves. Most young adult and teenage rescuers were too naïve to realize that they were not indestructible. This allowed them to take on riskier missions than adults. It also allowed them a unique way of dealing with the Holocaust. All of their fear and pain transformed into anger and a sense of purpose. Youth is not something to waste and the young rescuers took full advantage of their ‘immortality’. Louisa Steenstra, a young woman, was not afraid to throw a sarcastic remark in a Nazi officer’s face, even though she was fully aware of the consequences. Louisa hated the Nazis with a passion that she wasn’t afraid to show: “‘ I am not going to work for the Germans. I will kill myself first.’”
Louisa Steenstra had been around rescuers all her life. Albert, her husband, was already involved with the Underground when they wed. Her brother, sister, and parents all hid Jews in their houses. Louisa’s town was highly populated by Jews. Many of her friends and neighbors were Jewish. On May 10, 1940, the Nazis dropped a bomb killing 30,000 people in Rotterdam. Louisa could not understand why the Nazis would do such a thing. She could feel the hate swelling inside of herself: “‘When you hear that, how can you feel? I hated them. I couldn’t stand the Germans. I couldn’t stand it,’” (p.11 cool . Louisa had a baby girl in 1941 with her husband Albert. When asked to choose a name for her child, she chose Beatrice Irene. The Dutch queen who had been recently exiled was named Beatrice Irene. Louisa felt a sense of pride when she rubbed the Nazis the wrong way. At the end of the war Louisa had saved five Jews and fed numerous runaways. Louisa knew that if she was going out, she was going out with a bang. Some of the older rescuers were aware of how the young adult and teenage rescuers were ‘indestructible’. Recruiting this boldness to smuggle Jews out of their respective countries to safety, networks were born. The most successful rescuer network was the Danish Underground, saving ninety nine percent of the Jewish population in Denmark.