The righteous man of the world and his activities

The Second World War brought to the whole world only grief and suffering. Death swept through 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 not to return.

But it turned out that the war prepared death not only on the battlefield, it also affected civilians. In addition to the endless repression of the Soviet people, European Jews suffered immense 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 Israel Institute of Catastrophe and Heroism was engaged in this. This memorial was founded in 1953 and was designated the main institution, which should preserve the memory of the Jews.

Work of the organization

The Yad Vashem Institute operates under the special Israeli law on the Holocaust Memorial. This is the name of the Holocaust. The organization gives a personal medal and the title "Righteous Among 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 planned destruction.

Terminology

"Hasiday Umot Na-olam," if translated literally, means "the righteous of the peoples of the world." This term was founded by rabbis. It denotes non-Jews who observed the laws of Noah's sons. The Jewish people believe that next to them it is these people who are destined to be in the future world.

For the first time this term appeared in Maimonides. He believed that piety could be called so. That is, the non-Jew fulfilled the seven commandments only because he recognized their divine destiny, therefore they are obligatory for fulfillment. After Maimonides, a lot of rabbinical authorities worked with this term.

Another explanation of "Hasiday Umot Na-olam" was given by the book Zohar. It says that the righteous are those non-Jews who respected the Jews, did not dislike them, and acted with them fairly.

Modern interpretation indicates that the righteous person of the world is a non-Jew who is supportive of Jews during the Holocaust and other persecutions.

Activities

Usually when it comes to the Holocaust, many remember only two warring parties. But there was also a third one. According to the historian Francois Wizard, this group included those who saved the Jews and helped them.

To deploy such activities, it was necessary to have not only courage, but also self-sacrifice. This was due to the fact that people who hid Jews were threatened with reprisals. And not only them, but also their families. Especially the cruel treatment was with the righteous of Eastern Europe.

The West has not suffered so much, although the victims of Nazi hatred are also known there. Some righteous people 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 his neighbor, anti-Semitic.

The proof of this is the death of the Lithuanian Mykolas Shimelis. He was killed by local nationalists for helping the Jews, who he hid from himself. In Switzerland, this person was a policeman Paul Gruninger. He was fired and persecuted for helping to illegally cross the border to Jews.

In general, any person became the protection of this people. It could be both illiterate peasants and members of royal families. Jews were helped by the military, teachers, priests, peasants, officials, etc.

People of freedom

The just man of the world could be in any country. In Poland for all time, more than 120 thousand Jews were saved. They were helped by both the common people and the prominent personalities of the state. In this power was even the organization "Zhegot", which dealt with the issue of helping Jews in the occupied territory. This council was founded by Zofia Kozak-Shchutska, 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 stand up for the defense of this people. Against such a policy, and the royal family. The crossing was organized: 7,000 Danish Jews by boat reached Sweden. This is 7/8 of the entire 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 defended more than 50 thousand Jews. Tsar Boris III could not ignore the instructions of Germany. It was possible to take the victims to the province, thanks to which 50 thousand lives were saved. But, unfortunately, more than 11 thousand died. These Jews came to Auschwitz.

Although Germany was the mainstay of the Holocaust, nevertheless there were discontented politicians of the Nazis. Ethnic Germans in 1943 reached the largest demonstration against anti-Semitism. They tried to protect their loved ones, who shone sending to the camps. Then Goebbels decided: 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 should be assessed by several criteria:

• Assistance to one / several Jews in a critical situation.
• The righteous must comprehend and presume the salvation of a Jew.
• His actions should not contain a self-serving context, should not be motivated by monetary assistance or other payments.
• The assistant went to this business, despite the threat of his life and the lives of his loved ones.
• All actions of the righteous confirm the words of the victims or documents and materials indicating the fact of salvation.

These criteria help the Institute to confer the title of the righteous person of peace. The main requirement is the testimony of the rescued. More often it is this criterion that is awarded to a person. In history, there are only a few cases when documentary confirmation was necessary.

Statistics and celebrities

By early 2016, it was known that there were 26,119 righteous people in the world. The institution claims that it is impossible to draw any conclusions from these data, since this is all possible information received. But the organizers are sure that more rescuers could be found on the territory of Eastern Europe, if not for the communist regimes that blocked many countries.

It is now difficult to calculate all who could bear this honorary title. Nevertheless, in 51 countries the righteous people of the world now live. The list can be recited very long. Here 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 are only one righteous: Georgia, Egypt, Vietnam, Ireland, Cuba, Peru, Luxembourg, Japan, etc. 197 people were awarded this honorary title in Russia. A little more about the most outstanding savior.

Polish Underground

In 1914, Jan Karski was born in Lodz. Righteous in the world, he lived with the Jews from his youth. On the eve of the war he was second lieutenant of the director of the consular department. In late August 1939, he received a secret order to mobilize. At first Karski was captured by the Soviet Army, after an exchange he was in the German occupation zone. From there I was able to escape, thanks to which I was not killed in the beginning of 1940.

In Warsaw, he joined the resistance and was a courier of the Polish underground state. Several times secretly traveled to France and Britain to convey secret instructions. Once he was caught and sent to the Gestapo. There he was tortured, but after his attempted suicide he was saved by a Polish underground organization that developed a special operation to save Karski.

After his restoration, he repeatedly penetrated the Warsaw ghetto, where, pretending to be a Ukrainian soldier, he observed the captive Jews. What he had to see was forever in his heart. The last mission was left, which was received by Jan Karski. The righteous man of the world managed to get to London.

To the British government, he reported on the work of the Polish underground state and told about the sufferings of the Jewish people. Later he reached the US and reported on the Holocaust to Roosevelt. Reactions from the allies did not follow. But Karsky's attempts to save the Jews, as well as his assistance in Poland, earned a deserved award in 1982.

German wrestlers

By 2016, the Israel Institute of Catastrophe and Heroism counted nearly 600 of the righteous in the world in Germany. This includes Oscar Schindler, who saved more than 1,000 Jews, taking them to his work. There and then - participants of the movement "White Rose" Hans and Sophie Scholl. The same number includes Dietrich Bonhoeffer. "Righteous Among the World against the Third Reich" - this is exactly what pastor writer Eric Metaxas called. 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 suggested a possible killing of the dictator, Boheffer was still convinced that Christ can forgive this sin if it is aimed at resisting the political regime and high motives. Working in the Abwehr, he helped the seven Jews flee to Switzerland. For his views and actions, he was posthumously awarded the "Righteous Among the Nations" prize.

In addition to the fact that many churches were named after Bonhoeffer, a postage stamp was also made, in 2012 a book was published. Eric Metaxas was able to tell the story of the famous pastor. The book "The Righteous Among the World against the Third Reich" tells about the life of the theologian, his thoughts and faith. This is a piercing story about a man who could bravely resist the dictatorship.

Other heroes

Among the awarded there are whole settlements. For example, 117 inhabitants of Nyvlande also received a famous award. During the Second World War, the village decided to hide Jews in every home. The Shoneville family was the first to survive in this settlement back in 1940. Already later hundreds of Jews were hiding here, who were able to survive the Holocaust safely.

Chambon-sur-Lignon is a French settlement, which also contributed to the salvation of the Jews. Here were saved lives of 5 thousand victims. They were hiding in the whole commune. Thanks to the actions of the local pastor and his wife, 40 villagers were awarded the title of "Righteous Among the World".