While Ukraine is being invaded by Russia, we at Bored Panda decided to take a look back at the past and remember the moments when people proved they can be there for one another despite the difficult circumstances they were in.
We discovered a post on the subreddit r/history that has plenty of these examples—it began when user ThatLegendjpb asked the community to describe their favorite unexpected acts of kindness. Turns out, there have been plenty of such instances!
From ancient Rome to WWII, everyone began sharing proof that humanity isn’t as bad as it sometimes seems so let’s take a look at some of the wholesome stories and hope that the bloodshed in Europe will end soon.
#1
Japanese Diplomat in Lithuania during WW2. He was giving free travel passes to anyone who asked, especially Jews fleeing the holocaust. He was ordered by his government to stop and refused. As his embassy was being closed down, he and his wife were signing documents and handing them out to all refugees all the way to the train station; even to the point of throwing signed documents out the window as the train left.
He saved 6,000 to 10,000 lives by his actions and was later named among “the Righteous of Nations” and had his name and story entered into a museum in Israel to be forever remembered.
Image credits: Kiyohara
#2
The candy bomber story post-WWII makes me cry every time. He’s still alive today. He’s 99 years old!
The US airlifted tons and tons of supplies daily to West Berlin when they were blocked and left to die by the Soviet Union. One pilot dropped tiny parachutes of candy for the German kids after an encounter with a group of them and they asked him what he was chewing. It was gum and they’d never seen one. He gave one to them and one kid split one piece of gum into many tiny pieces and shared it with all the kids. They said, “Someday we’ll have enough to eat, but if we lose our freedom, we’ll never get it back.” After that, he secretly started to gather candy, chocolates, and gum for them and told them to watch out for his plane. But he violated the rules by doing that and he was called to the office thinking he would get in trouble but he was encouraged instead. It was really heartwarming. The kids are now grown and they celebrate him every year and invite him to Germany all the time.
It was the sweetest story. I love it so much. Wars or times of crisis really bring out the worst or best in people. Eventually humanity always wins.
Image credits: AyoJenny
#3
Not sure if this qualifies. The cemeteries of fallen soldiers in WWII in the Netherlands are adopted by local primary schools. Every year, they clean up the graves, add flowers and bring homage.
This includes the cemeteries of German soldiers
Image credits: SchipholRijk
#4
A Japanese pilot bombed a Canadian town during WWII and started a huge forest fire. He returned after the war to apologize and offered them his sword, which is still on display to this day. He went with the intent to commit ritual suicide if that’s what they wanted as an apology since he felt so ashamed of it. They made him an honorary citizen instead and the sword is displayed in the library.
Image credits: Milktoast770
#5
During the Civil War, textiles mills in Manchester, England refused to work with cotton picked by slaves, putting a massive economic burden on the city, and Lincoln personally sent them a letter thanking them.
Image credits: Ekreture
#6
Wasn’t there a story from Gallipoli where an Australian sergeant was trying to show his men proper grenade throwing techniques, and he threw a can of beef towards the Ottoman line to demonstrate? Then a few minutes later a tin full of cigarettes was thrown back with a note in rough French (the lingua Franca of the time) thanking them for the gift of beef and offering the cigarettes in return?
Image credits: AbstractBettaFish
#7
Don’t know much about the details of this conflict, but during the siege of Weinberg, women were allowed to leave the city carrying anything they could on their backs. Rather than carrying their possessions, they took their husbands. The king who was leading the siege praised them and decided to keep his word, allowing them to leave.
Perhaps not really nice in modern terms, when the alternative was just slaughtering half the city, but comparatively nice in its time.
Image credits: pamarca
#8
One of my favorite stories of World War II involves Denmark. In September 1943, Denmark had been occupied by Germany for a month or so. The news came out that all Jews would be deported to camps the next day, but the Danes refused to allow that to happen.
In a day—a SINGLE day—they were able to get 90% of Denmark’s Jews to the coast. From there, they crammed the refugees into every seaworthy vessel there was, many of them just little fishing boats, and brought them over to Sweden, which had not been occupied and was still neutral. Although some boats were stopped, and although some opportunistic Danes took advantage of their neighbors’ desperation, it remains in my mind one of the most heroic actions of history.
When I think of the ways an entire country can mobilize to be kind, I always think of that night.
Image credits: teacuperate
#9
The Dutch government donates tulips to Canada every year as a thank you for hosting their royal family during WW2 and the Canadian involvement in liberating the Netherlands. A princess was born in Canada and the hospital room was declared extraterritorial so she could be born Dutch.
Image credits: LawndartAssassin
#10
Ottomans supplied the Irish people during the famine (hence the crescent on Drogheda united)
Image credits: Hermano_Hue
#11
An Indian king (the Indian Oskar Schindler) provided refuge to 20,000 Polish orphans during WW 2. It’s a fascinating story of humanity at a time of great suffering.
Image credits: bluzkluz
#12
The memorial in Gallipoli reads:
Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives! You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country to of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
Atatürk, 1934
Image credits: spiteful-vengeance
#13
That reminds me of the “good nazi”, John Rabe.
He was the local Nazi party representative in Nanking in the run up to the Japanese attack. He used his status and monumental brass balls to establish a safety zone. It’s estimated he saved the lives of some 200.000 Chinese nationals.
During the war, he moved back to Germany and after the war, his party membership got him in trouble and he and his family lived in poverty for a number of years.
When the citizens of Nanking learned of this they raised $2.000 for him and sent him monthly food packages from mid-1948 to when the communists took over China.
Image credits: Shamalamadindong
#14
During WW1, the Canadian city of Halifax experienced a catastrophic explosion in December when a supply vessel carrying explosives and ammunition collided with another ship that detonated its cargo. At the time, it was the largest man-made explosion. This destroyed a large portion of the city, caused a tsunami, blinded and took a lot of citizens’ lifes who were watching from their windows. Shortly after, a blizzard hit the area. American ships nearby were affected by the blast and altered course to help. Boston sent relief aid and supplies. Every year, even 100 years later, Nova Scotia sends a large fir tree for Christmas as a token of gratitude.
Image credits: reddit
#15
You can look at San Marino, the world’s oldest existing democracy because there’s a lot of it. During the American Civil War, they sent a letter honoring President Lincoln and offered him citizenship, which Lincoln accepted. Also, they took in 100,000 refugees during WW2. Their population at the time was 15,000.
Image credits: Ekreture
#16
According to the Roman historian Livy, at some point in the fourth century BC, Rome was at war with the Etruscans and the consul Camillus was laying siege to the city of Falerii. In that city there was a tutor who was entrusted with some of the children of the most powerful families. Under the pretext of getting the boys some exercise, he led them outside the city walls and all the way to the Roman camp, thinking that he would be richly rewarded for bringing these valuable hostages.
But Camillus, ever the model of Roman virtue, was so appalled that he had the tutor stripped and beaten, then gave all the students sticks and flails so they could whip him all the way back to the gates. The Falerians, when they saw what was happening, were so astonished by Camillus’s righteousness that they immediately surrendered, willingly and peacefully, confident that they would receive a fair treatment under Roman rule.
Image credits: Son_of_Kong
#17
Queen Victoria gave many books to the Chicago Library after the Great Chicago Fire.
Image credits: ConcentricGroove
#18
Didn’t the English and Welsh unions participate in the Gay Pride parades in London in the Eighties because a group of gay advocates supported a small welsh town during the labor strikes? There was a movie about it-Pride. Good flick.
Image credits: DeuceTheDog
#19
King Rama IV of Siam (now Thailand) offered war elephants to Abraham Lincoln during the American civil war.
Image credits: mozzimo
#20
A pretty famous incident is the unofficial Christmas truce during WW1. They shared presents from home like chocolate and tea, and then in other parts of the line there was no truce and they still fired on each other
Image credits: ieatconfusedfish
#21
Operation Manna and Operation Chowhound. In the spring of 1945, the Netherlands was suffering from a famine. A truce was brokered between the allies and the local German occupation leaders to allow several thousand tons of food to be delivered into the occupied Netherlands.
Image credits: Ballardinian
#22
A sort of Chivalry seems to be a fairly common thing among wartime pilots. When Manfred Von Richthofen was shot down he was given a full military funeral by the Australian Flying Corps (They were the nearest Allied Air Unit and took responsibility for the body).
Image credits: Paulius2444
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