The Righteous: A Novel

From the New York Times bestselling and National Jewish Book Award winning author: a gripping novel of foreboding, betrayal, heroism, and hope set in World War II Budapest

By the end of 1943, nearly all of Europe’s Jewish population had fled, been deported, captured, or killed by Hitler. Only Hungary, and its almost 900,000 Jews, remained free from Hitler’s subjugation. That changed in March 1944, after the Nazi defeat at Stalingrad, as an avaricious Hitler conquered Hungary and declared his plan for mass extermination of the Jewish people. With the notorious Adolf Eichmann supervising the process, Nazis began rounding up Hungary’s Jewish population.

In this dramatic novel, The Righteous, Theresa Weissbach, a professor at the University of Michigan, hasn’t heard from her parents in Budapest for over a year. Her best friend, Julia Powers, recently awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for her OSS service in occupied Holland, joins with her to locate and rescue Theresa’s family. Julia and Theresa forge relationships with Swiss Vice Consul Carl Lutz, Swedish businessman, Raoul Wallenberg, and others in the underground resistance. Their skills and connections enable Julia, Theresa, and their colleagues to take enormous risks in an effort to save thousands of innocent lives.

Authentic, suspenseful, and deeply moving, The Righteous continues Ronald H. Balson’s exploration of World War II and the heroic actions of those who resisted Hitler’s Master Plan.