Single Handed

Book excerpt: From a World War II concentration camp to the Korean War to the White House, this is the story of Tibor “Teddy” Rubin, the only Holocaust survivor ever to receive a Medal of Honor... After being captured by Nazis and living through a year in the Mauthausen concentration camp, young Hungarian immigrant Tibor Rubin arrived in America, penniless and barely speaking English. In 1950, he volunteered for service in the Korean War. After numerous acts of heroism, including single-handedly defending a hill against enemy soldiers, rescuing a wounded comrade amid sniper fire, and commandeering a machine gun, he was captured and spent two and a half years in captivity. Still, it wasn’t until 2005, when Tibor was seventy-six, that he received the Medal of Honor from President George W. Bush—making the former Hungarian refugee the only Holocaust survivor to earn America’s highest military distinction. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and extensive interviews, Single-Handed is the inspiring account of the life of Tibor “Teddy” Rubin, a stirring portrait of a true American hero.