Buzz
War often brings out the worst in humanity. The devastation of any major conflict clearly reveals the terrifying lengths we are capable of going to in our ability to harm one another.
However, in the most dire situations, the human spirit can also rise to remarkable heights. In rare moments, someone enduring unspeakable horrors will take an action that transcends mere survival, becoming a true hero.
10. The Muslim and Jewish Families Who Rescued Each Other
The early 1940s were a perilous time for Jews, and Sarajevo was among the most dangerous cities to be in. Caught between the genocidal objectives of the German Nazi Party and the Croatian fascist Ustasa regime, Sarajevo's Jewish population was decimated. By the end of the Holocaust, 85% of the city’s 12,000 Jews had been murdered.
Yosef Kavilio, a well-known Jewish businessman, should have been among those who perished. A prime target for the Gestapo, he narrowly escaped death, thanks to his Muslim business partner, Mustafa Hardaga, and Mustafa’s wife, Zejneba.
In 1941, Mustafa and Zejneba hid Yosef in their home, fully aware that harboring Jews was a crime punishable by immediate execution. They did so while living just across from the Gestapo headquarters, a move that was nothing short of courageously reckless.
Against all odds, Yosef survived long enough to escape with his family to Israel. He never forgot the selfless act of his Muslim friend, often sharing the story with his children about the Sarajevo family who had saved him. Little did he know, 50 years later, his children would have the chance to repay the favor.
Fast-forward to 1992 and the devastating Bosnian War. Serbian anti-Muslim forces surrounded Sarajevo, relentlessly bombarding the city and its people. In Israel, Yosef's surviving family members were watching the destruction unfold. Shockingly, they made the decision right then and there to rescue the family who had once saved their patriarch.
With assistance from Yad Vashem and a few Jewish contacts still in Sarajevo, the Kavilio family tracked down the Hardagas. Although Mustafa had passed away many years prior, his widow, Zejneba, was still alive—but barely.
Weak and elderly, Zejneba was hiding in a cold, damp basement, trying to avoid Serbian sniper fire. She was in desperate need of food and medical supplies. The Kavilios succeeded in arranging for her and her youngest daughter to be evacuated to Israel, saving their lives. Five decades after her heroic act of saving Yosef Kavilio, Zejneba’s kindness was finally repaid.
9. The FARC Hostage Who Became a Peacemaker
We previously shared the horrifying tactics used by the Colombian group FARC during their violent, 52-year reign of terror. Needless to say, being taken hostage by this group would traumatize most people. Yet, American pastor Russell Martin Stendal was kidnapped by FARC soldiers five times.
Confronted by a deadly terror group bent on holding him captive, Stendal responded in the most Christian way possible. He forgave them, befriended them, and ultimately guided the FARC leadership towards negotiating peace with the Colombian government.
While a range of factors have contributed to Colombia’s ongoing peace talks with FARC (as we discussed here), Stendal undeniably played a key role. The group now refers to him as their spiritual mentor, with FARC sources confirming to The Guardian that Stendal holds substantial sway over their leaders.
It seems he's putting that influence to good use. Currently in Havana for the peace talks, Stendal serves as a “spiritual guide” to the rebels, quietly urging them to embrace Christian values and lay down their arms. Not bad for someone who once spent five months bound to a tree in the Colombian jungle as a hostage of the guerrillas.
8. The Most Resolute Nurse of World War I
Winston Churchill once remarked that the name Elsie Maud Inglis would “forever shine in history.” The fact that you’ve likely never heard of her isn’t due to Churchill’s tendency for exaggeration—it’s because the world somehow forgot a nurse who made Florence Nightingale seem like a casual caregiver.
A passionate suffragette, Inglis was determined to help wherever she could. When World War I erupted, she immediately petitioned the British War Office to establish a women’s medical unit for caring for soldiers during combat.
A War Office representative told her “to go home and sit still.” Inglis, however, took this as a chance to teach him a lesson in feminism—by packing her bags and heading straight to France.
On the front lines from 1914, Inglis seemed to view the staggering death toll of the Great War as a personal mission. She quickly established two hospitals in France and one in Russia, and even traveled to Serbia to tackle a brutal typhus outbreak head-on.
When Austro-Hungarian forces invaded the Balkans, she refused to abandon her patients and was captured alongside them. During negotiations for her release, she ensured that 13,000 Serbs were freed with her. To this day, she remains a national hero in Serbia.
By the time Elsie Inglis passed away from cancer in 1917, she had saved enough lives to populate an entire small city. It’s a tragic injustice that she is now nearly forgotten.
7. The Taliban’s Target: Protecting Afghanistan’s Music
You might have heard someone claim they'd give their life for music. Ahmad Sarmast truly meant it. An Afghan musicologist, he returned to his homeland after the fall of the Taliban with a singular mission: to safeguard Afghanistan’s rich musical heritage for future generations.
Afghanistan is a country with a deep tradition of oral history, where stories, histories, and music are passed down through generations rather than written. When the Taliban seized power, they banned music, threatening the entire musical legacy of Afghanistan with extinction.
Sarmast's self-declared mission was to preserve these old songs by writing them down in Western notation and to teach girls to play instruments in defiance of the religious extremists in his country. The extremists saw his innocent endeavor and decided to kill him.
In 2014, the Taliban targeted a concert Sarmast was attending. The bomber detonated his vest right behind Sarmast, sending shrapnel deep into his skull, which resulted in his hearing loss.
Despite having metal embedded in his skull and being deaf, the quiet musicologist returned to what he does best: preserving music and challenging extremists. He even underwent surgery in Australia to partially restore his hearing.
6. The Monk Who Protected Mosul’s Books From ISIS
When ISIS advanced into Mosul in 2014, most locals were focused on escaping. But Dominican friar Najeeb Michael had a different priority.
Having been responsible for digitizing ancient manuscripts at Mosul's library for over a decade, Michael soon realized that the Islamists would destroy the precious books he had labored to preserve. Centuries of Iraqi history would be wiped out in an instant.
Faced with such a devastating choice, many would likely flee Mosul. But Michael made a different decision. As the Islamist fighters descended on the city, he began loading his car with boxes of ancient books, even handing them to people on the street to take with them. He made it his mission to rescue as many manuscripts as possible.
This was all happening while confronting an extremely dangerous insurgent group, notorious for its brutality. ISIS would have eagerly killed Michael had they captured him. Yet, he kept stopping to pick up children and disabled individuals fleeing ISIS, letting them into his car. That act alone is the epitome of 'heroic.'
Ultimately, Michael successfully smuggled nearly 900 invaluable manuscripts across the border into Iraqi Kurdistan, preserving a crucial part of Mosul's cultural heritage for future generations.
5. The Israeli And Palestinian Organ Donors
The tragic story of Ahmed Khatib, a 12-year-old Palestinian, is heart-wrenching. In 2005, while playing with a toy gun, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Mistaking the boy for a threat, an Israeli soldier shot him in the head. The IDF quickly apologized, but the loss of such a young life remains devastating.
Or so it might seem. But Ahmed’s parents had a different response.
After their son was taken to an Israeli hospital, the parents shocked everyone by offering to donate his organs. Knowing their decision would save the lives of individuals typically considered enemies of Palestinians, they chose kindness. Thanks to their selflessness, Ahmed's death led to saving six Israeli lives, including those of four Jewish children.
What’s even more remarkable is that Ahmed’s story isn't one of a kind. A few years earlier, a Scottish Jew named Yoni Jesner was killed in a Palestinian suicide bombing on a bus. His family chose to donate his organs, and one of them went on to save the life of a Palestinian girl. A testament to the idea that, even amidst the darkest of conflicts, our shared humanity can still shine through.
4. Abdul Haji Kicks Some Terrorist Butt
Imagine for a moment receiving a text from your brother, saying that he's trapped in a mall under attack by terrorists. He believes he’s about to die any moment. What do you do? If you’re Abdul Haji, the answer is clear: grab a gun, head straight to the mall, and take on the terrorists single-handedly.
Abdul, a Kenyan of Somali descent, found himself inadvertently thrust into Kenya’s ongoing struggle against Al-Shabab militants from Somalia. The event in question was the horrific Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi in 2013, which claimed 67 lives. The death toll could have been far worse if not for Abdul.
A businessman with a pistol permit, Abdul rushed to the mall and opened fire on the militants, disregarding his own safety. Meanwhile, security forces had yet to arrive on the scene.
Abdul was soon joined by a handful of plainclothes officers and Red Cross medics. Together, this makeshift team worked their way through the mall, providing cover for trapped civilians and helping them escape.
At one point, Abdul managed to rescue a four-year-old girl and her mother, who were hiding just inches away from the terrorists, shielded only by a table. He also found his brother, who miraculously survived the attack. Despite his extraordinary actions, Abdul humbly refuses to call himself a hero.
3. Tibor Rubin Finally Gets the Recognition He Deserves for His Heroic Acts
It speaks volumes about a man when surviving the Holocaust is arguably the least remarkable accomplishment of his life. Tibor Rubin was that man.
A Hungarian Jew, Rubin lost his family to the Nazis at the Mauthausen concentration camp, but he survived long enough to be liberated by the US Army. In a gesture of gratitude, he enlisted to serve America. And that’s when the world began to realize just how extraordinary he truly was.
Tibor was sent to Korea, where he plunged straight into the heart of battle. At one point, he managed to single-handedly defend an entire hill for 24 hours, despite suffering injuries that would ultimately leave him disabled.
Captured and thrown into a Chinese-operated North Korean prison camp, Tibor was offered an escape when his communist captors realized he came from socialist Hungary. They promised to send him home, but Tibor told them exactly where to shove it.
Choosing to remain in the camp voluntarily, Tibor became a hero in his own right. He repeatedly escaped, only to return with supplies to feed his starving fellow prisoners of war.
Using medical knowledge he had acquired in Nazi concentration camps, Tibor worked tirelessly to save lives. It’s believed that he saved as many as 40 fellow POWs during his time in the North Korean prison.
Despite his incredible bravery, Tibor’s heroism went officially unrecognized. A prejudiced superior officer actively sabotaged efforts to award him the Medal of Honor. However, the soldiers whose lives Tibor saved never forgot him. Thirty years later, they gathered at a POW reunion and made sure he received the medal he had always deserved.
Their fight was long and arduous. They faced resistance from the army and superiors who simply didn’t care. But their determination eventually paid off. In 2005, at the age of 76, Rubin was awarded the Medal of Honor, 55 years after his time as a POW. At last, this war hero's selfless courage was properly acknowledged.
2. The Ordinary Kenyan Muslims Who Saved Their Christian Countrymen
In recent years, Al-Shabab militants have been carrying out raids from Somalia into Kenya. One of their more brutal tactics involves taking hostages in cafes, schools, or on buses, then separating them into Muslims and Christians. The Christians are then executed.
This exact scenario unfolded on December 21, 2015. Militants boarded a bus near the small village of El Wak and instructed passengers to divide into two groups. However, the Muslim passengers refused to comply with the terrorists’ demands.
Faced with heavily armed terrorists, the Muslim passengers refused to let their Christian brothers face death alone. At one point, they boldly told the militants, 'Kill us all together or leave us alone.' In that moment, these ordinary men and women chose to risk their lives to protect the unity of Kenya.
Fortunately, the situation didn’t escalate further. Faced with such an overwhelming display of unity, the gunmen fled the bus, defeated. What could have been a senseless massacre ended up making Kenya stronger.
1. Israeli Media Moves Mountains To Save Two Palestinian Children
In December 2008, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish was making preparations to move his family to Canada. A Palestinian from Gaza, he had worked as a fertility specialist in various hospitals across the border, helping bring many Israeli babies into the world.
Abuelaish had built friendships with influential figures in the media, like news anchor Shlomi Eldar, and was admired by both Palestinians and Israelis. But everything changed with the onset of Operation Cast Lead, which marked the collapse of Abuelaish’s world.
A 22-day conflict between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas, Operation Cast Lead began when rockets were fired into Israel by Islamists. The battle that followed saw over 750 civilians in Gaza lose their lives from accidental Israeli fire, among them Abuelaish’s own children.
On the 20th day, an IDF tank shell struck Dr. Abuelaish’s home twice. One of the explosions hit the room where his daughters and niece were studying. The blast was devastating, killing Mayar, Aya, and Noor instantly, scattering their limbs across the room.
Seventeen-year-old Shatha was left horrifically injured, with one eye hanging from her cheek and a hand barely intact. The second shell left his brother Nasser wounded and his niece Ghaida with severe injuries. In the face of such brutality, Abuelaish reached out to the only person he could think of: Shlomi Eldar.
At that time, Eldar was on live television, covering the conflict. In an extraordinary move, he paused his broadcast to take the call. What happened next was captured on video for all to see.
Eldar put the phone on speaker. The anguish of Abuelaish’s family unfolded live on air, stirring the nation’s heart and prompting a wave of compassion.
Simultaneously, Eldar contacted the nearest Gaza checkpoint, insisting they open the border. Using his connections, the news anchor arranged for Abuelaish’s injured children to be taken by ambulance into Israel, where they received life-saving treatment—something the overwhelmed Gaza hospitals could not provide.
It was an enormous undertaking, but ultimately, it paid off. Shatha's eye was saved, and Ghaida's life was preserved. In an unexpected turn, one of the IDF soldiers involved in the operation later adapted Abuelaish's story into a poignant play for Israel's National Theater.
