Leo Baeck, rabbi and one of the most important representatives of Liberal Judaism in Germany, describes how important friends were to the Jews:
“Without their moral support, life would have been much more difficult to bear. Helping Jews was sometimes the only way in which Germans could express their opposition to the Nazis. Occasionally, I would find a basket of fruit outside my door, from anonymous donors. One Sunday, on a packed city train, someone I didn’t know stepped really close to me and asked: “Is the next stop Tiergarten?”. He added in a whisper: “I’m from the country and I’ve put some eggs in your bag.” Another time, a man dropped an envelope on the street, picked it up and passed it to me while saying: “You’ve lost something.” The envelope contained a packet of food rations.”