A Quiet Hero

After seizing Europe, the Nazis begin to execute “the final solution” by conducting a census of Jews in each of the Occupied countries that is driven by IBM technology. After the census in Holland, the Nazis murdered 75 percent of the Dutch Jews. After the census in France, 25 percent of the country’s Jews are murdered. What made France different?

At Vichy France’s National Statistical Service headquarters in Lyon, General René Carmille and his aide Miriam Dupré know spies are everywhere. They race against time to sabotage the census-based lists of Jews and mobilize the Resistance to combat the Nazi death machine. In this novel, Miriam tells the true story of General René Carmille’s leadership in saving the lives of thousands of Jews—the story of A Quiet Hero.

Just when you think you’ve heard every World War II story, think again. In A Quiet Hero, Dwight Harshbarger offers a thoughtful and engaging approach to the untold story of a courageous French general who went against the tide and saved thousands of lives in the process.” —Benyamin Cohen author of My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith 

Supported by impressive research and a fidelity to historical fact, A Quiet Hero tells a story that might otherwise be forgotten: French hero René Carmille leads a hidden resistance to the Nazi death machine, sabotages the Nazi census, and prevents the death of thousands of Jews.” —Geoffrey Fuller author of Full Bone Moon and Pretty Little Killers: The Truth Behind the Savage Murder of Skylar Neese; editor and podcast host of Mared and Karen: The WVU Coed Murders

“A compelling account of an unsung battle against Nazi horrors, A Quiet Hero interweaves the intense lives of fictional characters with the true story of General René Carmille, a hidden hero of the French Resistance. This riveting narrative explores the Nazis use of IBM technology in the census of Jews and automation of the Holocaust—and tells us how Carmille sabotaged the Nazi census, saving the lives of thousands of Jews. A story of resistance and grace.” —Kathleen Cash, Ed.D. author of Sex, Shame and Violence: A Revolutionary Practice of Public Storytelling in Poor Communities

“This exciting new account of René Carmille’s daring campaign of sabotage tells a story that’s more important now than ever before. In A Quiet Hero we have not only an account of individual heroism, but a compelling look at the dangerous intersection of statistical knowledge and political power.” —Nick Fox-Gieg animator, developer and producer of Interregnum

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