Indian Businessman Saved 14 Austrian Jews From Nazis

Kundan Lal, an Indian businessman from Ludhiana, Punjab, undertook a courageous and largely unknown mission to rescue Jewish families from Nazi persecution during World War II by offering them job contracts and visas to relocate to India. Traveling to Vienna in 1938 for medical treatment, he witnessed the worsening conditions for Jews and used his resources and resolve to provide employment opportunities, sometimes through fictitious companies, to save at least 14 lives. His efforts included placing job advertisements in Austrian newspapers and arranging homes for the refugees, despite facing challenges such as British authorities later detaining these Jewish refugees as "enemy aliens" during the war. This remarkable story remained hidden for decades until his grandson, Vinay Gupta, uncovered it through family letters, survivor interviews, and historical research, culminating in the memoir "A Rescue in Vienna." Meanwhile, another story of survival and reunion was highlighted by the USC Shoah Foundation, which arranged a meeting in Los Angeles between Holocaust survivor Roth and a liberator, emphasizing the lasting human connections formed during the war. These accounts collectively shed light on lesser-known acts of heroism and the enduring impact of World War II survivors and rescuers.