Call to Action

“The rescue of Jews by fellow Jews during the Holocaust is a remarkable human and moral phenomenon, worthy of being inscribed in golden letters in the book of Jewish heroism throughout the generations. It was a widespread phenomenon that took place everywhere and at all times, continuously, in varying scales and dimensions. It led to the rescue and salvation of many Jews. To the rescuers themselves, their efforts may have seemed natural and normal — but in truth, they were anything but ordinary. Those Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust deserve recognition for their greatness and courage, which were far from self evident. Their actions, carried out under immense danger, deserve recognition, commemoration, documentation, appreciation, and gratitude.”

Professor Gideon Greif, interview for the film.

“These people, who added further danger to the threat already hanging over them in order to help their fellow Jews, were forgotten after the war years, and no program was ever established to honor them as they deserved. The time has come for such a program to be established by none other than Yad Vashem itself, in order to teach Israeli youth that Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. Besides the ghetto fighters and partisans, there were many others, such as the Zionist youth movements in Hungary, who chose not necessarily to fight the enemy directly, but to find ways to save as many Jews as possible. And indeed, they saved thousands of Jews. They too deserve recognition. I pray that ultimately this issue will receive recognition through an amendment to the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Law — Yad Vashem, 1953.”

Professor Mordecai Paldiel, former director of the Department of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem, The Jerusalem Post, April 11, 2016, “Yad Vashem and Jewish Rescuers of Jews” (translated from English).

“My research on the destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis drew my attention to a grave omission and an equally grave distortion. I see the omission in the silence surrounding those Jews who saved others while death hovered over their own heads. And in the widespread belief that European Jews went to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter, without resistance, I see a distortion of the truth. Both of these issues must be corrected.”

Professor Nechama Tec, Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, 2009.

“We now face the strange situation in which Christians who saved Jews, and Jews who converted to Christianity and saved Jews, are recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, while Jews who saved Jews have never been recognized. Insisting on these distinctions violates the spirit in which most rescuers — Jews and Christians alike — acted, since they did not think in terms of religious differences when carrying out their heroic deeds... We dishonor the memory of rescuers — Jewish and Christian alike — when we confine them to categories that their noble souls transcended. For most rescuers, the ‘Jewishness’ of the person being saved was never the decisive factor.”

Professor Patrick Henry, Jewish Resistance Against the Nazis, Catholic University Press, 2014.

“I was saved by Christians, and also by a Jew. Without him, I would not be here with you today. Jewish rescue hardly appears in the historical record because the rescuers did not speak about what they did. Young people were taught that Jews went like sheep to the slaughter. That is not true. There were partisans, ghetto fighters, and also Jews who saved fellow Jews while risking their own lives. These people can serve as role models for young people. For some reason, because it seems obvious that Jews would save Jews, their contribution has not been recognized. For example, at the Holocaust Museum in Washington there is a wall with 21,000 names of non Jews who saved Jews, but not a single name of a Jew who saved another Jew.”

Haim Roth, Chairman of the Committee for the Recognition and Appreciation of Jewish Rescuers During the Holocaust, discussion at the Knesset Education Committee, January 15, 2007.

“The rescuers felt that what they had done was obvious and did not require recognition. There is logic in that — you care for your own people — but we must remember that many members of the resistance could have survived the war in relative safety with forged papers. We should not take their actions for granted. They could have lived in peace, but instead they placed themselves in danger. Around 200 resistance members were killed in these operations, and the public is largely unaware of these events. These were people who intensively risked their lives for more than four years. It is fitting that in the seventieth year of the State of Israel, the country should recognize the contribution of Jews who saved fellow Jews. I call for national recognition of Jewish rescuers. I see this as a matter of national pride. Perhaps we have become somewhat cynical regarding values, but this is about humanitarian values and going beyond what was required. It is a national debt.”

Dr. Tsila Hershco, interviewed by Shimon Cohen, Arutz 7, October 26, 2017.

“The subject of Jewish rescuers during the Holocaust was neglected for many years, to say the least. Naturally, after the Holocaust, most attention was given to the Righteous Among the Nations. When all humanity abandoned the Jews, the phenomenon of non Jews mobilizing to save them was so exceptional, moving, and inspiring that it naturally drew the attention, recognition, and gratitude of the Jewish people. At the same time, there were also thousands of Jews who carried out extraordinary and moving acts of heroism, some while risking their own lives.

Today, the Education Committee raised this issue on the national agenda in order to find the proper and appropriate framework for honoring and recognizing the heroic acts of Jews during the Holocaust. It is of great importance that Israeli youth know that such noble individuals emerged from within the Jewish people, and that they learn the meaning of action and mutual responsibility. I recommended that the Ministry of Education include this topic in the mandatory curriculum and conduct comprehensive research to gather the stories of these individuals. There is currently a significant lack of information regarding the thousands of Jewish rescuers during the Holocaust. This must be done urgently, as we are losing these people every day due to their age.”

Rabbi MK Michael Melchior, Chairman of the Knesset Education Committee, discussion at the Knesset Education Committee, January 15, 2007.

“There is neglect, and the neglect is painful... They were engaged day and night, for many years throughout the war, in rescue efforts. They were also occupied with rebuilding lives afterward... Tens of thousands of children owe them their lives... There are many Holocaust survivors who owe their lives to those Jews who rescued them, and the fact that nobody knows about it is simply astonishing. There is a kind of sin against history here, and a great missed opportunity for all of us.”

Yardena Arazi, daughter of a Jewish rescuer, personal interview.

“Why does this neglect exist, this forgetting of rescue operations carried out across Europe throughout the years of persecution and extermination by men and women who, often at the risk of their own lives, worked to pull their brothers and sisters from the claws of murderers? And how can one explain the silence? After all, within the reality of the Final Solution, saving the maximum number of people was the most effective and meaningful strategy. The thousands of people who owe their survival to these actions are the strongest testimony to that fact. After sixty years of forgetting and suppression, the time has come to recognize the heroism of rescue actions carried out by Jews. It must be emphasized that their sacrifice contributed greatly to thwarting the Nazi plan for the total annihilation of European Jewry. The time has come to tell our younger generation that thousands among their own people risked themselves to save brothers and sisters. This is the image we must pass on to our children — an image of a people that preserved its humanity amidst savage barbarism.”

Emerich Deutsch, KKL website, “In Honor of the Heroism of Jews Who Saved Their Fellow Jews During the Holocaust,” April 2017.