This is a story about dr Esther Gitman, a historian of Jewish origins who has written the book “When Courage Prevailed”. Her book was published by Paragon House, United States of America in early March 2011. The book examines the theme of the rescue and the survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II and the role of the Archbishop of Zagreb, Alojzije Stepinac (Aloysius Stepinac), during that time.

Dr Gitman embarked upon scientific research for her PhD dissertation in New York in 1999. There were numerous topics and themes offered to her for this but she decided to dedicate her dissertation work exclusively to the courageous Croatians who had saved Jews in the Independent State of Croatia and to Stepinac. The film talks of how and why she chose this topic for her doctorate. She had never heard of Stepinac until her dissertation work took her to the Croatian national archives in Zagreb where she uncovered numerous mislaid boxes that contained tens of thousands of unprocessed documents that talk of his honourable activities during the war.