Small Act in Nazi Germany Saves One Life

Relayed to Rabbi Lawrence Kushner by Shif Repenzy, a rabbinic student, about her great Aunt Sissy 

It was in Munich in Nazi Germany. A light snow was falling and the streets were crowded with people. Sissy was riding a city bus home from work, when SS storm-troopers suddenly stopped the coach and began examining the identification papers of the passengers. Most of them were annoyed, but a few were terrified, for Jews were being told to leave the bus and get into a truck that was parked around the corner.

Sissy watched from her seat in the rear, as the soldiers systematically worked their way down the aisle. She began to tremble, tears streaming down her face. When the man next to her noticed she was crying he politely asked her why.“I don’t have the papers you have,” she said. “I’m a Jew. They’re going to take me.” When the man heard this, he exploded with disgust. He began to curse and scream at her. “You stupid bitch!” he roared. “I can’t stand being near you.” The SS men asked what all the yelling was about. “Damn her!” the man shouted angrily. “My wife has forgotten her papers again. I’m so fed up— she always does this! It is an embarrassment to be married to someone so forgetful” 

The solders laughed and moved on. 

Sissy never saw the man again. She never even knew his name, but she knew he saved her life.