When Esther Gitman proposed a topic for a Fulbright Fellowship, the administrator taking proposals was incredulous.
In her 50s at the time, Gitman was already well past the age of most applicants to the prestigious fellowship. But what shocked the representative was not Gitman’s age, but her story.
“I ll write about the rescue of Jews in the independent state of Croatia (during World War II),” Gitman said.
“Why in the world would you like to write such a thing?” the representative asked. “Don t you know that all the Jews and many of the Serbs and Gypsies were murdered there?”