For the persecuted Jews in Wilna, the name of Wehrmacht sergeant Anton Schmid represented a promise. The non-commissioned officer from Vienna embodied their hope for salvation from annihilation during the war years of 1941/42. It is no surprise that Schmid has been idealized in the retrospective memories of Holocaust survivors: "For us, he was something like a saint!" Who was this "little man" from Vienna? What motivated him? Why did he choose to help the persecuted in the cauldron of Wilna, where hundreds, even thousands, were murdered almost daily, risking his life to save more than 300 of them? Why did he even take the risk of supporting the Jewish resistance? Wolfram Wette tells the equally touching and stirring story of this quiet hero. From the few pieces of information that have survived, he reconstructs Schmid's life.