Heroes are often portrayed as supernatural beings with phenomenal jawlines and a fantastic smile. They are residents of awe inspiring planets and harness supernatural strength or vision. Everyday heroes, however, are much more common and practical in the world we inhabit. No, they don’t go around stopping a meteor from hitting the white house, but instead start a foundation for the less fortunate, or perhaps support religious liberties. Whether it be by refusing to get up from a seat on the bus, or harboring fugitives against the government’s wishes, small actions changed the world for the better. Paul Grueninger was one of these people, having saved thousands of Jews illegally by letting them cross the border into Switzerland during the Holocaust.
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Paul Grueninger had been a police border guard at the Switzerland-Austria border for many years, and risked his job and life for those of the Jews. He was told to send Jewish refugees without proper papers back to Austria, but instead let them through. Switzerland had just recently come to terms with the Nazi government, agreeing to stamp the famous “J” in German passports issued to Jews. He was told to only let a certain amount of Jews through, before turning the rest away. This lesser known hero showed compassion to these victims and took it upon himself to help them through, against officials wishes. With ambitious actions, such as falsifying papers for refugees to carry, buying supplies for them with his own money, and lying to coworkers, he had saved the lives of just about three thousand people.
Without this man’s contribution, it is very likely that those three thousand people would not have lived as long as they did. People like Gruenginger saw that killing innocent lives solely based on their personal beliefs was wrong. If people had not taken a stand to Hitler, our world would not look as it does today. For one, there would be no versatility. Hitler wanted a world full of blond, blue eyed, christian men and woman. Most of our population would have been ruled out for the count, and would not be doing the things we see today such as space travel and medical
Paul Grueninger had been a police border guard at the Switzerland-Austria border for many years, and risked his job and life for those of the Jews. He was told to send Jewish refugees without proper papers back to Austria, but instead let them through. Switzerland had just recently come to terms with the Nazi government, agreeing to stamp the famous “J” in German passports issued to Jews. He was told to only let a certain amount of Jews through, before turning the rest away. This lesser known hero showed compassion to these victims and took it upon himself to help them through, against officials wishes. With ambitious actions, such as falsifying papers for refugees to carry, buying supplies for them with his own money, and lying to coworkers, he had saved the lives of just about three thousand people.
Without this man’s contribution, it is very likely that those three thousand people would not have lived as long as they did. People like Gruenginger saw that killing innocent lives solely based on their personal beliefs was wrong. If people had not taken a stand to Hitler, our world would not look as it does today. For one, there would be no versatility. Hitler wanted a world full of blond, blue eyed, christian men and woman. Most of our population would have been ruled out for the count, and would not be doing the things we see today such as space travel and medical