Historical, Religious, Holocaust 

Snared behind enemy lines, under the harrowing hail of blitzkrieg bombs, Rabbi Yosef Y. Schneersohn, sixth leader of the Chabad movement, and his followers were trapped in the shadow of death that was Europe at the dawn of World War II. Without the tireless efforts documented in this meticulously researched volume, Chabad, now a dynamic fixture of the modern Jewish landscape, would likely have been obliterated under the Nazi’s black-booted heel. As Nazi hellfire rained down on Eastern Europe, Rabbi Schneersohn’s followers, lobbyists, and historical figures, such as Justice Louis Brandies, stormed Washington's halls of power to secure the rabbi’s passage to America, along with his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, who became the internationally famed Lubavitcher Rebbe. Thus, nothing less than the future of American Judaism hung on the fate of this undertaking. Rachel Altein, daughter of the American Chasid of Rabbi Schneersohn who spearheaded the rescue effort, collected her father’s yellowing documents that detail the mechanics and minutiae behind the miracle. The gripping drama of negotiations, false hopes, and ultimate victory is told through the event’s genuine paperwork. There are staccato declarations of emergency telegrams, carefully worded missives between lawyers and distant diplomats. In short, a wide range of evidence, serving as testament to this remarkable event. By reading between the lines, readers get to know a pantheon of heroes, renown and obscure, who helped the cause along. Pictures and biographical sketches of the main players are presented in the book, which is just one of the volume’s organizational strengths. An orderly presentation - complete with timeline and maps - reveals the complexities of the back-and-forth struggle with admirable clarity. Altein wisely included firsthand accounts from eyewitnesses to the story, on both sides of the Atlantic, which describe the terrifying circumstances behind the euphemistic wording of the official documentation. To read Out of the Inferno is to hold a vivid, important chapter of history in your hands. - from Amzon