The Second World War brought the whole world only grief and suffering. Death swept across all countries, taking children, adults and old people into their black hands. Politics destroyed its peoples in the struggle for territory. Hundreds of thousands of young men went to the front so as not to return.
But it turned out that the war prepared the death not only on the battlefield, it also affected civilians. In addition to the endless repression of the Soviet people, European Jews suffered enormous losses. Only the righteous of the world could protect the latter.
Vocation
After the Holocaust, it was decided to reward those who were not indifferent to the tragedy of the Jewish people. The Israeli Institute for Disaster and Heroism took up this task. This memorial was founded in 1953 and appointed the main institution that should preserve the memory of the Jews.
Organization work
The Yad Vashem Institute operates under Israel’s special Catastrophe Law. That is what the Holocaust is called. The organization presents a nominal medal and the title “Righteous of the World” to those who during the Nazi occupation could not remain indifferent to the Jewish people. The award was awarded to non-Jews who endangered their own lives, saving these people from systematic destruction.
Terminology
"Hasidei umat Na-olam", literally translated, means "the righteous of the peoples of the world." This term was founded by rabbis. It refers to non-Jews who obeyed the laws of Noah's sons. The Jewish people believe that it is these people who are meant to be next to them in the future world.
For the first time this term appeared in Maimonides. He believed that piety could be called that. That is, a gentile fulfilled the seven commandments only because he recognized their divine destiny, therefore they are mandatory for fulfillment. After Maimonides, many rabbinical authorities worked with this term.
Another explanation of "Hasidei Umot Na-olam" was given by the book of Zohar. It says that the righteous are those non-Jews who respect the Jews, did not feel disgust for them, and did justly to them.
A modern interpretation indicates that the righteous of the world is a non-Jew who favors a Jew during the Holocaust and other persecutions.
Activities
Usually when it comes to the Holocaust, many recall only two warring parties. But there was also a third. According to historian Francois Wizard, this group included those who saved Jews and helped them.
To develop such an activity, it was necessary to possess not just courage, but also self-sacrifice. This was due to the fact that people who hid Jews were threatened with reprisal. And not only to them, but also to their families. Particularly ill-treatment was with the righteous of Eastern Europe.
Western not so much affected, although there are also known victims of Nazi hatred. Some of the righteous were killed, some died in concentration camps. Everyone who was involved in helping Jews lived in fear. And he was afraid not only of the German authorities, but also of a neighbor who was anti-Semitic.
The proof of this is the death of the Lithuanian Mykolas Simelis. He was killed by local nationalists for helping the Jews, whom he hid in his home. In Switzerland, police officer Paul Grüninger was such a man. He was fired and persecuted for helping Jews illegally cross the border.
In general, any person stood up to protect this people. It could be both illiterate villagers and members of the royal families. The Jews were helped by the military, teachers, priests, peasants, officials, etc.
People of freedom
The righteous of the world could be in any country. In Poland, over 120 thousand Jews have been saved all the time. They were helped by both ordinary people and prominent personalities of the state. In this power there was even the Zhegota organization, which dealt with the issue of helping Jews in the occupied territory. This advice was founded by Zofia Kozak-Shchutsk, and Irena Sendler helped her .
Protested against the Holocaust and the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium. When the persecution of the Jews came to Denmark, the entire population of the country tried to defend this people. The royal family also opposed such a policy. A ferry was organized: 7 thousand Danish Jews in boats reached Sweden. This is 7/8 of the total Jewish population of Denmark. Thanks to such cohesion of the people of this state, only 60 Jews died in wartime.
Bulgaria also came to the aid of the victims of the Holocaust. The people stood up for more than 50 thousand Jews. Tsar Boris III ignored the instructions of Germany as best he could. They managed to take the victims to the province, thanks to which 50 thousand lives were saved. But, unfortunately, more than 11 thousand were lost. These Jews came to Auschwitz.
Although Germany was a stronghold of the Holocaust, nevertheless there were met dissatisfied with the policies of the Nazis. Ethnic Germans in 1943 came to the largest demonstration against anti-Semitism. They tried to protect their loved ones, who were sent to camps. Then Goebbels made the decision: he freed the German Jews, whose relatives came to the rally, and sent them to compulsory work. Thus, more than 2 thousand people were saved.
To whom to award?
The righteous of the world should be evaluated according to several criteria:
- Help one / several Jews in a critical situation.
- The righteous must comprehend and presume specifically the salvation of the Jew.
- His actions should not contain a mercenary context, should not be motivated by cash assistance or other payments.
- The assistant went on this matter, despite the threat to his life and the lives of his loved ones.
- All actions of the righteous person confirm the words of the victims or documents and materials indicating the fact of salvation.
These criteria help the Institute award the title of the righteous of the world. The main requirement is the testimony of the saved. Most often, it is by this criterion that a person is awarded. In history, there are only a few cases where documentary evidence was needed.
Statistics and Celebrities
By the beginning of 2016, it was known that there were 26,119 righteous people in the world. The Institute claims that no conclusion can be drawn from these data, as this is all possible information received. But the organizers are sure that in the territory of Eastern Europe one could find more saviors, if not for the communist regimes that blocked many countries.
Now it is difficult to calculate everyone who could wear this honorary title. Nevertheless, in 51 countries the righteous of the world now live. A list of them can be recited for a very long time. There are a huge number of Poles - more than 6 thousand people. Two and a half thousand from Ukraine, almost 4,000 French, 5,500 Dutch, 1,700 Belgians.
There are states in which there is only one righteous person: Georgia, Egypt, Vietnam, Ireland, Cuba, Peru, Luxembourg, Japan, etc. In Russia, 197 people were awarded this honorary title. A little more about the most prominent saviors.
Polish underground
In 1914, Jan Karski was born in Lodz. Righteous in the future, he lived side by side with Jews from his youth. On the eve of the war, he was the second lieutenant of the director of the consular department. At the end of August 1939, he received a secret mobilization order. At first, Karsky was captured by the Soviet Army, after the exchange he was in the German occupation zone. He could escape from there, thanks to which he was not killed at the beginning of 1940.
In Warsaw, he resisted and was a courier of the Polish underground state. Several times secretly traveled to France and the UK to convey secret instructions. Once he was caught and sent to the Gestapo. He was tortured there, but after his suicide attempt, he was saved by a Polish underground organization that developed a special operation to save Karsky.
After his restoration, he repeatedly penetrated the Warsaw ghetto, where, pretending to be a Ukrainian soldier, he watched captured Jews. What he had to see remained forever in his heart. There remained the last mission that Jan Karski received. The righteous of the world managed to get to London.
He reported to the British government for the work of the Polish underground state and spoke about the suffering of the Jewish people. He later reached the United States and reported the Holocaust to Roosevelt. There was no reaction from the allies. But Karski’s attempts to save Jews, as well as his help in Poland, brought a well-deserved award in 1982.
German wrestlers
By 2016, the Israel Institute of Disaster and Heroism in Germany counted nearly 600 righteous people of the world. This could include Oscar Schindler, who saved more than 1,000 Jews by taking them to work. Immediately - members of the movement "White Rose" Hans and Sophie Scholl. The same number includes Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “The Righteous of the World versus the Third Reich,” is what the writer Eric Metaxas called pastor. The story of this man ended tragically. In 1945 he was executed for participating in a conspiracy against Hitler.
Despite the fact that the operation implied the possible murder of the dictator, Boheffer was still convinced that Christ could forgive this sin if it was aimed at resisting the political regime and high motives. Working in the Abwehr, he helped seven Jews to escape to Switzerland. For his views and actions, he was posthumously awarded the Prize of the Righteous Among the Nations.
In addition to the fact that many churches were named after Bonhoeffer, a postage stamp was also made, and in 2012 a book was released. Eric Metaxas was able to tell the story of the famous pastor. The book “The Righteous of the World versus the Third Reich” tells about the life of a theologian, about his thoughts and faith. This is a piercing tale of a man who could courageously resist the dictatorship.
Other heroes
Among the awarded there are entire settlements. For example, 117 residents of Nyivland also received the famous award. During World War II, the village decided to hide Jews in every home. The Shoneville family was the first to escape in this settlement back in 1940. Later, hundreds of Jews were hiding here, who successfully survived the Holocaust.
Chambon-sur-Lignon is a French settlement that also contributed to the salvation of the Jews. Here the lives of 5 thousand victims were saved. They were hidden throughout the entire commune. Thanks to the actions of the local pastor and his wife, 40 villagers were awarded the title “Righteous Among the World”.