I’m not a betting person, but if I were, I would say there are more people than not who have had circumstances, situations, or people enter their lives where it became crystal clear you just had to do something to help. Quite often you have the skills, know-how, or mindset to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. You didn’t ask for the job, but the job got plopped in your lap. That’s where this week’s story leads us …
Ida and Louise Cook were unmarried sisters, both in their thirties, who lived with their parents in England. One was an author of romance novels for the equivalent of America’s Harlequin romance books, and the other was a secretary for the London civil service. They made their own clothes and shared a love of opera, loving opera so much they would travel to Germany for the weekend just to see opera there.
Seeing the desperation in Germany during the 1930’s, Ida and Louise devised a plan to use their trips to Nazi-controlled countries as their cover to smuggle valuables (such as jewelry and furs) out of Germany to help Jewish refugees meet Britain’s financial requirements for entry. Their middle-class English appearances helped them avoid suspicion, allowing them to act as couriers and intermediaries. It truly was ingenious as no one paid attention to two women in their homemade clothes, nor on their return with their furs and jewels.
The sisters would find people who would vouch for the refugees, find people willing to home them, assemble papers for them, and even rent an apartment as a temporary space for refugees who just arrive in England. The sisters used their own funds for this, so the refugees could sell their valuables for money to keep and help in their settlement. Ida and Louise would leave through different checkpoints, so the same guards wouldn’t be able to notice their sudden acquisition of too much jewelry, and created a story about the valuables in their purses as “we can’t trust them in our apartment when we aren’t there!” They acted simple and foolish, but amazingly were never caught. They eventually halted their visits over the border, after directly rescuing 29 people (mostly families), but their work did not stop. They continued to raise money and awareness, and to help refugees in England.
Many years later, in 1964, they were honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Quick to dismiss what they were able to accomplish, they said, “what we offered wasn’t much. In exchange for saving lives – all we needed was slight trouble, some eloquence, and some money.” Ida and Louise Cook were unsung heroines during World War II for their work in rescuing Jews from Nazi persecution. It is a story of bravery, resourcefulness, and determination.
The stories of unsung heroes (and heroines) are plentiful and all around us (seen and unseen). Scripture tells us in Isaiah 6 how the prophet Isaiah, through a vision from the Lord, began his ministry for God. In the vision, the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah responded quickly and volunteered: “Here am I; send me.”
Are you an unsung hero or heroine to someone?
Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries of Pittsburg, TX. She has been a contributor to Bound for Life and written numerous articles published in LifeNews, Christian Post and the Baptist Standard, and is the author of Go Tell It! Debby can be contacted at caryjohnefurdministries@gmail.com. Visit her at the Second Mile blog at https://debbyefurd.com.
Tagged: heroes, scripture, world war II
