Can humans cooperate with one another when facing extremely low survival chances? Do pre-existing social ties increase one's chances of survival in life-and-death situations? Social linkages in extreme circumstances are discussed with Štěpán Jurajda in Talking Economics. Štěpán Jurajda is the Mellon Endowment Professor with Tenure at CERGE-EI, a Full Professor at CERGE, Charles University, and a Senior Researcher at the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He also serves as Deputy Minister for Science, Research and Innovation of the Czech Republic. His paper Social Networks and Surviving the Holocaust brings new evidence for historical research.