Steve Crawshaw

"Small Acts of Resistance" contained the inspiring tales of small acts that had a BIG influence on world events. The actions of individuals, small groups and even a majority of a country's citizens were able to strike blows against tyranny and evil everywhere.

Included within this book is the story of the Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz, who almost single-handedly saved 60,000 Hungarian Jews during the Second World War, by issuing "protection letters", which deliberately misinterpreted the wording to mean whole families, not individuals, as the formal agreement with the German government recognized. He also issued more of these letters, up to 100,000, then the 8,000 he was authorized to issue. Each paper he issued, meant that another life was saved. What was Lutz' reward fro risking his own life to save untold countless numbers of strangers? It was to be investigated by his own government for flouting orders and even rebuked by the British government (whose interests were represented by neutral Switzerland) and to die in obscurity. At least now his heroism is coming to light.

Then there is the story of the fearless protest undertaken by thousands of German women married to German Jewish men. In an amazing show of solidarity, these women took to the streets to protest the abduction of their husbands and the intent by the Nazis to ship these men off to concentration camps. These nameless women braved risked their own lives and potential deportation in order to shame the German government into releasing their husbands. And it actually worked! Thanks to these unsung heroes, scores of Jewish German men were never deported. I guess love truly does conquer all.

My final example (and my favorite) is of the way the Poles took to protest their fiction-filled television news. Beginning with the inhabitants of a small town in eastern Poland, every evening as the evening news began, the streets would fill with Polish citizens going out on a walkabout. But before leaving their homes, some of them would place their turned off television sets in their windows, facing out impotently onto the street. While others, going one step further, would take their televisions out for a walk with them, placing the sets in a stroller or a wheelbarrow and wheeling them down the street as they walked around and talked. It didn't take long for this "legal" way of protesting to spread throughout ALL of Communist Poland. Sometimes humor really can strike a blow for freedom.

The stories in "Small Acts of Resistance" alternately made me laugh, smile, cry and cheer. Because it is always heartening to know that individuals have power, for at any time, any one person can strike a blow or start a movement or inspire a group of people to rise-up and throw-off the bonds of tyranny. Truly anybody can become freedom's torchbearer.… (meer)

"Small Acts of Resistance" contained the inspiring tales of small acts that had a BIG influence on world events. The actions of individuals, small groups and even a majority of a country's citizens were able to strike blows against tyranny and evil everywhere.

Included within this book is the story of the Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz, who almost single-handedly saved 60,000 Hungarian Jews during the Second World War, by issuing "protection letters", which deliberately misinterpreted the wording to mean whole families, not individuals, as the formal agreement with the German government recognized. He also issued more of these letters, up to 100,000, then the 8,000 he was authorized to issue. Each paper he issued, meant that another life was saved. What was Lutz' reward fro risking his own life to save untold countless numbers of strangers? It was to be investigated by his own government for flouting orders and even rebuked by the British government (whose interests were represented by neutral Switzerland) and to die in obscurity. At least now his heroism is coming to light.

Then there is the story of the fearless protest undertaken by thousands of German women married to German Jewish men. In an amazing show of solidarity, these women took to the streets to protest the abduction of their husbands and the intent by the Nazis to ship these men off to concentration camps. These nameless women braved risked their own lives and potential deportation in order to shame the German government into releasing their husbands. And it actually worked! Thanks to these unsung heroes, scores of Jewish German men were never deported. I guess love truly does conquer all.

My final example (and my favorite) is of the way the Poles took to protest their fiction-filled television news. Beginning with the inhabitants of a small town in eastern Poland, every evening as the evening news began, the streets would fill with Polish citizens going out on a walkabout. But before leaving their homes, some of them would place their turned off television sets in their windows, facing out impotently onto the street. While others, going one step further, would take their televisions out for a walk with them, placing the sets in a stroller or a wheelbarrow and wheeling them down the street as they walked around and talked. It didn't take long for this "legal" way of protesting to spread throughout ALL of Communist Poland. Sometimes humor really can strike a blow for freedom.

The stories in "Small Acts of Resistance" alternately made me laugh, smile, cry and cheer. Because it is always heartening to know that individuals have power, for at any time, any one person can strike a blow or start a movement or inspire a group of people to rise-up and throw-off the bonds of tyranny. Truly anybody can become freedom's torchbearer.… (meer)

"Small Acts of Resistance" contained the inspiring tales of small acts that had a BIG influence on world events. The actions of individuals, small groups and even a majority of a country's citizens were able to strike blows against tyranny and evil everywhere.

Included within this book is the story of the Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz, who almost single-handedly saved 60,000 Hungarian Jews during the Second World War, by issuing "protection letters", which deliberately misinterpreted the wording to mean whole families, not individuals, as the formal agreement with the German government recognized. He also issued more of these letters, up to 100,000, then the 8,000 he was authorized to issue. Each paper he issued, meant that another life was saved. What was Lutz' reward fro risking his own life to save untold countless numbers of strangers? It was to be investigated by his own government for flouting orders and even rebuked by the British government (whose interests were represented by neutral Switzerland) and to die in obscurity. At least now his heroism is coming to light.

Then there is the story of the fearless protest undertaken by thousands of German women married to German Jewish men. In an amazing show of solidarity, these women took to the streets to protest the abduction of their husbands and the intent by the Nazis to ship these men off to concentration camps. These nameless women braved risked their own lives and potential deportation in order to shame the German government into releasing their husbands. And it actually worked! Thanks to these unsung heroes, scores of Jewish German men were never deported. I guess love truly does conquer all.

My final example (and my favorite) is of the way the Poles took to protest their fiction-filled television news. Beginning with the inhabitants of a small town in eastern Poland, every evening as the evening news began, the streets would fill with Polish citizens going out on a walkabout. But before leaving their homes, some of them would place their turned off television sets in their windows, facing out impotently onto the street. While others, going one step further, would take their televisions out for a walk with them, placing the sets in a stroller or a wheelbarrow and wheeling them down the street as they walked around and talked. It didn't take long for this "legal" way of protesting to spread throughout ALL of Communist Poland. Sometimes humor really can strike a blow for freedom.

The stories in "Small Acts of Resistance" alternately made me laugh, smile, cry and cheer. Because it is always heartening to know that individuals have power, for at any time, any one person can strike a blow or start a movement or inspire a group of people to rise-up and throw-off the bonds of tyranny. Truly anybody can become freedom's torchbearer.… (meer)

Small Acts of Resistance features a series of anecdotes where individuals or groups led resistance to fundamental change in closed or oppressive political systems and societies. The chapters and examples are often short in length, spare paragraphs or a few pages at most with chapter headings featuring a motivational or insightful quote. The book seems designed to rally and inspire a new generation of activists rather than to document individual struggle against oppression. Given the brevity of the chapters, the context of the demonstrated resistance is barely glossed over. However those with a passing knowledge of world events will find many of the scenarios familiar, from Apartheid, resistance in Nazi Germany, to the struggle against dictatorship in Eastern Europe, the book jumps from time and location to provide a thread of individual struggle. This effect can seem jarring, but the book is a quick read and demonstrates what it sets out to do, that individuals have and can make a difference.

Of particular interest are the tactics used by individuals throughout the book. With verve and humor, the tactics of resistance are creative and demonstrate the spirit of non-violent conflict. While the tactics are entertaining, there is a lack of discussion on how individual acts developed into strategies, and how they coalesced into movements. I found Gene Sharp's work on non-violent conflict and tactics of resistance to go into considerably more depth while being just as readable. While I can understand the choice for brief chapters - quick actions shots designed to excite, they can leave the reader wanting to know more. Thankfully the bibliography provides a sufficient background list of reading for the various anecdotes illustrated throughout the book.… (meer)