Heroes of the Holocaust (Righteous Among the Nations)

Heroes of the Holocaust(Righteous Among the Nations)

Righteous Among the Nations

Honorary title given to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust

As of January 1, 2012, 24 356 people have been awarded the title

IntegrityIntegrityFirm adherence to a moral code, especially in the face of adversity.

Chiune SugiharaIssued visas to help Jews escape Lithuania

What did Chiune do?Asked permission to issue visas but was denied

Began issuing visas anyways

Wrote about 300 visas a day for 29 days

Was forced to leave Lithuania

Continued to write visas on the train

As the train pulled out he threw his visa stamp into the crowd

After the WarSoviets imprisoned Chiune and his family in an internment camp in Romania for 18 months

Returned to Japan in 1947

Japanese Foreign Ministry dismissed him from diplomatic service

Met Joshua Nishri, one of his survivors in 1968

Died July 31 1986

Chiune issued visas to over 6000 people

CourageCourageThe state of mind that enables one to face danger, hardship, or uncertainty with composure and resolve.

Irena SendlerSmuggled around 2500 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto

“Every child saved with my help and the help of all the wonderful secret messengers, who today are no longer living, is the justification of my existence on this earth, and not a title to glory.” –Irena Sendler

What did Irena do?Joined Zegota, a Polish council formed to aid Jews

Visited the Warsaw Ghetto daily

Spoke with parents and offered to smuggle their children out

Made false documents for children and placed them with families or convents

Recorded the new and old identities and location of the every child

Irena’s ArrestOctober 20 1943, Irena was arrested

She was tortured by Gestapo for the names and addresses of families hiding Jews

They broke her legs and feet but she never gave anything up

Was sentenced to death but Zegota helped her escape

Changed her identity and continued her rescues

After the WarDug up her jars containing the names of the children

Tracked down the children and tried to reunite them with relatives

Unfortunately most of their parents died in Treblinka

Died May 12, 2008

Irena saved around 2500 children

Moral Leadership

Moral LeadershipThe ability to influence others to accomplish a goal arising from a sense of right and wrong.

Raoul WallenbergSaved over 100 000 people

What did Raoul do?Was given a task to do what he could to assist Hungarian Jews

Worked with Swedish government and resistance groups

Issued certificates of protection to Jews (protective passports)

Established hospitals, nurseries, a soup kitchen and safe houses

Stopped many deportations of Jews and secured the release of those with protective passports

Gave passports to Jews as he stopped the deportations

Raoul helped save over 100 000 people

Social Responsibility

Social ResponsibilityA sense of obligation to ensure the welfare of others.

Varian FryHelped Anti-Nazi refugees escape from France

I could not just sit and look on without doing anything. –Varian Fry

What did Varian do?Visited Berlin in 1935, seeing the Nazi abuse made him want to help

Emergency Rescue Committee (American Organization) sent him to France with a list of who to save

Saved everyone on his list and more

Provided forged documents and escape routes for anti-Nazi refugees

Hid Jews and non-Jews until they could be smuggled out

Varian saved over 2200 people

IngenuityIngenuityInventive skill or cleverness in confronting a challenge.

Oskar SchindlerSaved over 1200 Jews by hiring them to work

What did Oskar do?Took over two Jewish owned factories

Employed Jews for cheap labor

Appalled by brutality, started to protect workers without worry of cost

Persuaded SS to convert Emalia (his factory) into a subcamp of Plaszow

Allowed Jews to spend the night in the factories

Bribed police and soldiers

Discovered that any factories that didn’t help with the war efforts would be closed

Moved to a factory in Brünnlitz to make anti-tank grenades

Made a list of people to be sent to the new factory

1000 were his workers

200 were other prisoners

After the WarVery poor because he spent all his money on bribes and supplies for the Jews

Went bankrupt

Left his wife

Tried to open numerous factories but they all failed

Died October 9, 1974 and was later buried in Jerusalem

Oskar saved over 1200 Jews

Cooperation

CooperationWorking together toward a common goal or purpose.

Dimitar PeshevSaved 48 000 Jews from deportation

"My human conscience and my understanding of the fateful consequences both for the people involved and the policy of our country now and in the future did not allow me to remain idle. And I decided to do all in my power to prevent what was being planned from happening; I knew that this action was going to shame Bulgaria in the eyes of the world and brand her with a stain she didn't deserve.” –Dimitar Peshev

Self-Sacrifice

Self-SacrificeGiving up personal wants and needs for the sake of others or for a cause.

Aristides De Sousa MendesIssued Visas for 30 000 people

“If thousands of Jews are suffering because of one Christian [Hitler], surely one Christian may suffer for so many Jews”. -Aristides De Sousa Mendes

What did Aristides do?Under strict orders to not issue Portuguese Visas

Despite that, issued visas to:Jews

Political Dissidents

Army Officers from occupied countries

Priests and Nuns

Was ordered to return to Portugal

Before he left France, he issued visas to everyone outside the Portuguese consulate

After the WarDismissed from his position in the Foreign Ministry

Unable to support his family of 13

Died poor in 1954

Aristides issued visas for 30 000 people

Compassion

CompassionA feeling of sympathy for the suffering of another and the desire to alleviate it

Olga RajsekHid and took care of a Jewish boy

What did Olga do?Took in a Jewish boy whose parents were imprisoned

Passed him off as her cousin

He was discovered and arrested

Worked to release him

Placed him in an orphanage

Brought food to him everyday

After the war, took him back to her house to be reunited with his father

Sir Nicholas WintonRescued 669 children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia

"Save one life, save the world.” –Nicholas Winton

What did Nicholas do?Formed an organization to help children from Jewish families Czechoslovakia

Raised money to help bring children to Britain

Found families to house the children

Organized eight transports from Prague to London

Stopped when Britain declared war on Germany

Didn’t tell many people about what he did

Wife found his scrapbook of all the children in 1988

Nicholas saved 669 children

Giovanni PalatucciFalsified travel documents

“They want to make us believe that the heart is just a muscle, to prevent us from doing what our hearts and religion tell us to do” -Giovanni Palatucci

What did Giovanni do?Was in charge of the department of foreigners in Fiume, Italy

Edited necessary residence papers for Jewish refugees

Falsified documents and visas

Instead of deporting Jews he secretly made plans to send them to Campania

Destroyed records of around 10,000 Jewish refugees

Giovanni’s ArrestGestapo found out what Giovanni was doing

Was given a safe pass to Switzerland

He gave the pass to his Jewish Fiancée

Arrested September 13 1944

Deported to Dachau where he died February 10 1945

Giovanni saved thousands of Jews

DenmarkOnly occupied country that actively resisted Nazi Regime

What did Denmark do?Welcomed around 4500 Jewish refugees

Did not make Jews wear a yellow star

Allowed Jews to keep their property and businesses

Stopped violence against Jews

Hid Jews once searches began

Helped over 7200 Jews and 700 non-Jewish relatives escape

Around 470 Jews were seized by German soldiers

Citizens and leaders actively demanded to know where the Jews were being kept

Kept their homes and businesses away from the Germans

Around 120 Danish Jews died during the Holocaust

Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon Provided refuge for around 5000 people

What did Le Chambon-sur-Lignon do?

Pastor Trocmé started by providing relief supplies to 30,000 Jews in internment camps

Worked with Burns Chalmers

Burns negotiated the release of many Jews from Southern Camps

A French-Jewish child care agency helped transport the Jews

Children were placed into private homes, boarding houses and houses made for sheltering

Didn’t just house Jewish Refugees, also housed:Anti-Nazi Germans

Spanish Republicans

Members of the French Resistance

Frenchmen who wanted to avoid forced labor

During raids by Vichy Police or German Security villagers helped bring the refugees further into the countryside

Helped provide false travel documents and ration cards

Under German Occupation

Germans occupied Southern France November 1942

French police arrested Pastor Trocmé and two other men February 13, 1943

They were released after 28 days

Continued to rescue until late 1943 when they had to go into hiding

June 29, 1943 German police raided a school and arrested 18 Jewish students as well as others involved in rescue efforts

Saved 3,000-5,000 Jews