These Civilians Risked It All to Stand Up to Nazi Forces in World War II

During the Second World War, atrocities and horrors took place all over Europe as country after country fell to the German military machine. As a result, pockets of resistance emerged throughout Europe, fighting as part of the “underground” to resist German rule. The hope was that a small group of civilians could keep morale high across a country, encouraging others to join the fight. 

A German admiral and member of the Nazi Party, Wilhelm Canaris turned against the regime and committed both passive and active acts of resistance during the war, following the invasion of Poland.

As the head of Germany’s military-intelligence agency, Canaris was well placed to leak invasion plans to the Allies and protect Jewish refugees. Honored in Germany, Canaris was arrested after being betrayed and later executed for high treason.

One of the most prominent civilians who risked everything, Oskar Schindler, is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. His life is the subject of a novel and the Steven Spielberg Oscar-winning film, Schindler’s List.

Schindler was a German industrialist and Nazi Party member who saved Jews by employing them in his factories during the war. He has been recognized with the Righteous Among the Nations award.

A German diplomat, Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz, was a German attaché for the regime serving in occupied Denmark. During his time in the country, Duckwitz warned the Danish authorities about Germany’s intention to deport Denmark’s Jewish population to extermination camps.

His actions and those of the Danish resistance saved 95% of the country’s Jewish population. For this, he received the Righteous Among the Nations award from Israel.

Receiving the Righteous Among the Nations award by Israel, Mary Elmes was an Irish aid worker famous for saving the lives of at least 200 Jewish children by hiding them in the back of her car. After being captured by the Vichy regime and the Gestapo, Elmes miraculously survived and remains the only Irish individual to receive one of Israel’s highest honors.

One of the German officers best known for a failed July 1944 attempt on German leadership, Stauffenberg, is famous for helping to develop the plan to eliminate the German high command. A member of the German resistance working inside the military, he attempted to assassinate Hitler with a briefcase bomb, but the attempt failed.

An American who worked with the OSS and Special Operations Executive in the UK, Virginia Hall is the only woman to receive the Distinguished Service Cross during World War II. Hall’s efforts are celebrated in espionage lore as she coordinated sabotage, intelligence gathering, and jailbreaks with French resistance fighters, all while being hunted by the Gestapo.

During the war, Jan Karski was a Polish resistance fighter and diplomat, a courier from 1940 to 1943 to Poland’s government-in-exile. His reports about extermination camps and the murder of Jews and Poles were some of the best first-hand accounts of what was taking place, and he delivered these reports directly to Roosevelt and Churchill. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Righteous Among the Nations.

A Polish citizen and member of the resistance, Witold Pilecki, co-founded the secret Polish Army while imprisoned at Auschwitz. While imprisoned, Pilecki voluntarily gathered information on Nazi war crimes and organized resistance within the camp before escaping in 1943.

Pilecki fought in the Warsaw Uprising, which led to his imprisonment. After the war, his dedication to justice put him at odds with the Polish communist authorities, leading to his execution. He would posthumously receive the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Gunnar Sonsteby was the only person awarded the War Cross with three swords, Norway’s highest military decoration. Gunnar was a prominent figure in the Norwegian Resistance, known as “Agent No. 24.” His work included sabotage missions against German forces and disrupting German supply lines.

A Dutch resistance fighter during the war, the “girl with the red hair,” or Hannie Schaft, is credited with multiple sabotage acts, forged documents, and working with other resistance groups as a collaborator. Carrying out attacks on Germans and Dutch Nazis, Schaft learned to speak German, and would become a symbol of the Dutch resistance before being captured and killed.

Jean Pierre Moulin was a French civil servant who was considered a hero of the French Resistance. During his time in occupied France, Moulin worked to unify the various networks of French resistance under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle. Sadly, he was captured by the Gestapo, tortured, and killed, and is now considered a national hero in France.

Known as “Dedee,” Andrée de Jongh was a central figure in the Comet Line, a resistance network that helped Allied soldiers and airmen escape capture in occupied Europe.

The goal of the Comet Line was to help these troops escape to Spain, and between August 1941 and December 1942, Dédée helped over 118 people escape, including 80 airmen.

Born in Como, Italy, Giorgio Perlasca was an Italian businessman who is credited with saving 5,218 Jews from extermination camps. Using his pretend position as Spanish consul-general, Perlasca created fake documents using his own money and resources to get many Jewish citizens out of the country. Israel has recognized Perlasca for his efforts in helping the Jewish community.

Carl Lutz, A Swiss diplomat, was the Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest from 1942 until the war ended. His time in Hungary is credited has been praised by Israel with saving the lives of over 62,000 Jews, or around half of the Jewish population in the area at the time.

Lutz established 75 separate safe houses under Swiss protection. He was such a thorn in the Germans' side that, in 1944, the German representative in Hungary discussed assassinating him.

Co-founding the White Rose resistance movement along with his sister Sophie, Hans Scholl was a German citizen who looked to distribute anti-Nazi leaflets across Germany, urging its residents to push back against the Third Reich.

Sadly, Scholl and his sister were arrested and executed in 1943, but they continue to be symbols of the anti-Nazi resistance across the country.