This document discusses rescuers, bystanders, helpers, and indifference in the context of 9 historical examples of helpers: the Jewish Holocaust, Rwandan Genocide, slavery in the US, religious rights movements led by Gandhi and others, women's suffrage movement led by Susan B. Anthony, Harvey Milk's advocacy for gay rights, efforts to combat human trafficking by Somaly Mam, the US civil rights movement sparked by the Greensboro Sit-Ins, and examples of individual rescuers. Each section provides details about key individuals who helped rescue or advocate for oppressed groups and quotes that exemplify their efforts. The document concludes with suggestions for a woodblock print project focusing on a contemporary or historical example of helping/

1. Helpers & Bystanders
Rescuers and Indifference

2. Rescuer
• verb (used with object), rescued, rescuing.
• to free or deliver from confinement, violence,
danger, or evil.
• to liberate or take by forcible or illegal means from
lawful custody.
• History: 1300-1350; Middle English rescuen & Old
French rescourre, equivalent to re + escourre : to
shake, drive out, remove.

3. Bystander
• noun
• a person present but not involved; chance
spectator; onlooker.
• Origin: 1610-1620; by + stander

4. Helper
• noun
• a person or thing that helps or gives assistance,
support, etc.
• an extra locomotive attachment to a train at the
front, middle or rear, especially to provide extra
power for climbing a steep grade.
• Origin: 1250-1300; Middle English

5. Indifference
• noun
• lack of interest or concern.
• unimportance; little or no concern.
• the quality or condition of being indifferent.
• mediocre quality; mediocrity.
• Origin: 1400-1450; Middle English variant of Latin
indifferentia.

6. 9 Examples of Helpers
• 1. Jewish Holocaust
• 2. Rwandan Genocide
• 3. Slavery in United States
• 4. Religious Rights
• 5. Women’s Rights
• 6. Gay Rights
• 7. Human Rights / Human Trafficking
• 8. Civil Rights in United States
• 9. People in Danger

7. Jewish Holocaust
• Oscar Schindler
• German industrialist that was at
one time a member of the Nazi
party.
• Took ownership of an
enamelware factory where he
witnessed the inhuman
treatment of Jews.
• Credited with saving the lives
of 1,200 Jews during the
Holocaust.

8. “I knew the people that worked for me.
When you know people, you have to behave
towards them like human beings.”
–Oscar Schindler

9. Rwandan Genocide
• Paul Rusesabagina
• Hotel manager who hid and
protected 1,268 Hutu and Tutsi
refugees during the Rwandan
Genocide.
• None of those refugees were
hurt or killed during the attacks.

10. “I thought I was doing my right job, my day-to-day
life, a manger’s life. A manager’s job.”
“If people see this footage, they’ll say, ‘Oh God,
that’s terrible,’ and they’ll go on eating their
dinners.”
-Paul Rusesabagina

11. Slavery in USA
• John Fairfield, Levin
Coffin, &
Harriet Tubman
• Underground Railroad
• A vast network of people who
helped fugitive slaves escape
to the North or Canada.
• An estimate of 100,000 slaves
escaped from the South from
1810 to 1850.

12. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.
Always remember, you have within you the
strength, the patience, and the passion to reach
for the stars to change the world.”
–Harriet Tubman

13. Religious Rights
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Established a policy of non-violent
non-co-operation to
achieve independence in India.
• He struggled to alleviate
poverty, liberate women and
put an end to caste
discrimination, with the ultimate
objective being self-rule for
India.

14. “Where there is love there is life.”
“Happiness is when what you think, what you
say, and what you do are in harmony.”
“You must be the change you wish to see in the
world.”
–Mahatma Gandhi

15. Women’s Rights
• Susan B. Anthony
• In 1869 Anthony formed the
National Woman Sufferage
Association. The primary goal
was to achieve voting rights for
women by means of a
Congressional amendment to
the Constitution.

16. “I declare to you that woman must not depend
upon the protection of man, but must be taught
to protect herself, and there I take my stand.”
–Susan B. Anthony

17. Gay Rights
• Harvey Milk
• Political and community activist
• In 1977 was the first openly gay
person to become a publicly
elected official
• He tackled a wide variety of
issues from child care to
housing to a police review
board.
• He was assassinated in 1978.

18. “All young people, regardless of sexual
orientation or identity, deserve a safe and
supportive environment in which to achieve to
their full potential.”
–Harvey Milk

19. Human Trafficking
• Somaly Mam
• Cambodian author and human
rights advocate who focuses
primarily on sex trafficking.
• Sold to a brothel and forced
into prostitution at the age of 14
by her grandfather.
• Escaped and started the
Somaly Mam Foundation to
rescue young women from sex
trafficking.

20. “A seed is like a little girl: it can look small and
worthless, but if you treat it well then it will grow
beautiful.”
–Somaly Mam

21. Civil Rights
• Ezell Blair, Franklin
McCain, Joseph McNeil,
David Richmond
• On February 1, 1960 four African
American college students sat down at
a lunch counter at Woolworth’s in
Greensboro, NC and politely asked for
service.
• When asked to leave they remained in
their seats.
• Their passive resistance and peaceful
sit-down helped ignite a youth led
movement to challenge racial
inequality.

23. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light
can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only
love can do that.”
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than
sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr.

24. People in Danger
• Hugh O’Neil
• A 1960 Hoban graduate and Georgetown
University student home for summer
break.
• Heavy rain caused a sink hole to form on
Tallmadge Ave. and several people were
trapped in the hole.
• O’Neil volunteered to be part of a rescue
team to help save the trapped people.
• He lost his life saving a woman named
Janet Lewis.
• Because of the lost lives Tallmadge Ave
was renamed Memorial Parkway.

25. Two Ways to Approach
Project
• Option 1: Use a contemporary example of
helper/rescuer or bystander/indifference as the
subject of your woodblock print.
• Option 2: Use an actual story from the Holocaust
as the subject of your woodblock print.