Eugene Lazowski - the Polish Schindler

A Polish WWII doctor saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust by creating a fake Typhus epidemic which played on racist German phobias about hygiene.

 

Just to preface this, this man was so influential that he was called “the Polish Schindler.” His name was Dr. Eugene Lazowski, and was a Polish doctor who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust with an ingenious scheme.

He created a fake epidemic that played on German phobias to help save people. With the help of a friend, he created a fake outbreak of Typhus, a dangerous infectious disease. The Germans reacted by quarantining the area he had “designated” the outbreak to be at.

 

In total, the quarantine saved around 8,000 Polish Jews from death in concentration camps. In doing so, Lazowski had risked the death penalty. Despite this, it was a great success, and he went on to live many more years. He died back in 2006.