The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers And Their Stories Of Courage

The author, a first generation Jewish-American, seeks out some of the last surviving rescuers of Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of Holland to produce this collective portrait of ten heroic individuals.

Mark Klempner is a folklorist, and oral historian. The son of an immigrant who barely escaped the Holocaust, Klempner spent nearly a decade talking with and getting to know the Dutch rescuers in order to write The Heart Has Reasons. Klempner grew up in New York, and attended Cornell University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1997, and winning a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. In 2000, he received an M.A. in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Klempner's articles have appeared internationally in professional publications such as the Oral History Reader, as well as in periodicals such as Tikkun and the National Catholic Reporter. He has also been featured as a commentator on Morning Edition, and has been interviewed on Air America, NPR, Prime Time Radio, and other broadcast media.