Eleanor & Gilbert: A Couple’s Mission

At great personal risk, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus of Philadelphia traveled to Nazi-controlled Vienna to rescue 50 Jewish children in spring 1939—just months before the start of World War II. Upon arriving, they faced the heartbreaking challenge of choosing which children could withstand leaving their parents and immigrating to the United States with strangers.

Learn More:

• Personal Story: Eleanor and Gilbert Kraus 

• Artifact: Eleanor Kraus Memoir

• Artifacts: Identification Papers and Photographs of the 50 Children

• Videos: Oral History Interviews Conducted for the Documentary Film “50 Children: The Rescue Mission or Mr. and Mrs. Kraus”

• Article: The Rescue Mission of Eleanor and Gilbert Kraus

• Online Exhibition: Americans and the Holocaust

This page is also available in Spanish.