Righteous Among the Nations

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Righteous Among the Nations

Righteous among the Nations (Chassidey Umot HaOlam), which may at times refer to the B'nei Noah

B'nei Noah

Noahidism is not a modern monotheistic ideology. Noahides observe the Seven Laws of Noah which were given to both Adam and Noah. Noahides follow the most ancient belief system in the world....
or Noahides as well, is a term used in Judaism

Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
to refer to non-Jews who abide by the Seven Laws of Noah and thus are assured of meriting paradise

Paradise

Paradise is an idealized place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness....
.

In secular usage, the term is used by the State of Israel

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
to describe non-Jews

Gentile

The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite tribes or nations in translations of the Bible, most notably the English King James Version.It serves as the Latin and subsequenly English translation of the Hebrew language words ??? and ???? in the Old Testament and the Greek language word ???? in the New Testament....
who risked their lives during the Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as , Churben is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler....
in order to save Jew

Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s from extermination by the Nazis

Nazi Germany

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Encyclopedia

Righteous among the Nations (Chassidey Umot HaOlam), which may at times refer to the B'nei Noah

B'nei Noah

Judaism

Paradise

Israel

Gentile

The Holocaust

Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s from extermination by the Nazis

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
. The secular award (discussed below) by the same name given by the State of Israel has often been translated into English as Righteous Gentile.

Bestowing

When Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, was established in 1953 by the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem....
, one of its tasks was to commemorate the "Righteous among the Nations". The Righteous were defined as non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Since 1963, a commission headed by a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel

Supreme Court of Israel

The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system in the State of Israel. It is the highest judicial instance. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem....
has been charged with the duty of awarding the honorary title "Righteous among the Nations." The commission is guided in its work by certain criteria and meticulously studies all documentation, including evidence by survivors and other eyewitnesses, evaluates the historical circumstances the element of risk to the rescuer, and then decides if the case accords with the criteria.

To be recognized as "Righteous", a person has to fulfill several criteria:

only a Jewish party can put a nomination forward
helping a family member or Jewish converts does not count
the assistance has to be repeated and/or substantial
the assistance has to be given without any financial gain expected in return (although covering normal expenses such as rent or food are acceptable)

A person who is recognized as "Righteous among the Nations" for having taken risks to help Jews during the Holocaust is awarded a medal bearing their name, a certificate of honor, and the privilege of having their name added to those on the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous

Garden of the Righteous

Garden of the Righteous may refer to one of the following:*An inexact translation of Riyad-us Saliheen*Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, a garden in Yad Vashem commemorating the Righteous Among the Nations....
at Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem

File:Yad Vashem BW 3.JPGYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
in Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
. (The last is in lieu of a tree-planting, which was discontinued for lack of space.) The awards are distributed to the rescuers or their next-of-kin during ceremonies in Israel or in their countries of residence through the offices of Israel's diplomatic representatives. These ceremonies are attended by local government representatives and are given wide media coverage.

The Yad Vashem Law also authorizes Yad Vashem "To confer honorary citizenship upon the Righteous among the Nations, and if they have passed away, the commemorative citizenship of the State of Israel, in recognition of their actions." Anyone who has been recognized as Righteous among the Nations is entitled to apply to Yad Vashem for the certificate. If the Righteous among the Nations is no longer alive, their next of kin is entitled to request that commemorative citizenship be conferred on the Righteous among the Nations who has died. Recipients who choose to live in the state of Israel are entitled to a pension equal to the average national wage, free health care, as well as assistance with housing and nursing care.

By 1 January 2008, 22,211 men and women from 45 countries have been recognized as Righteous among the Nations, representing over 10,000 authenticated rescue stories. Yad Vashem's policy is to pursue the program for as long as petitions for this title are received and are supported by solid evidence that meets the criteria.

Righteous Among the Nations per country & ethnic origin as of January 1, 2008

These figures are not necessarily an indication of the actual number of Jews saved in each country, but reflect material on rescue operations made available to Yad Vashem.

See List of Righteous among the Nations by country

List of Righteous Among the Nations by country

This is a partial list of some of the most prominent Righteous among the Nations per country of origin, recognized by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem....
for names of individuals.

Country of origin	Awards	Notes
	6,066	In German-occupied Poland General Government The General Government refers to a part of the territories of Poland under German military occupation during World War II by Nazi Germany and was an autonomous part of "Greater Germany".... , all household members were punished by death if a Jew were found concealed in their home or property, death was a punishment for providing any aid to Jew etc. giving bread or water to passing Jews. This was the most severe law enforced by the Nazis in occupied Europe. See Polish Righteous among the Nations Polish Righteous among the Nations Poles citizens have the world's highest count of individuals awarded medals of Righteous among the Nations, given by the State of Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews from extermination during the The Holocaust....
	4,863	Includes two persons originally from Indonesia Indonesia The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state.... residing in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, people hiding Jews would usually be punished by either being sent to concentration camps themselves or even by being shot (usually after a "trial"). Several hundred communist resistance workers never received recognition for saving Jews, because they acted as intermediates in bringing Jews, especially children, to hiding places and their names remained unknown (many of them died in concentration camps).
	2,833	In January, 2007, French President Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac Jacques Ren? Chirac served as the President of France from 17 May 1995 until 16 May 2007. As President he also served as an ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra and Grand Master of the French L?gion d'honneur.... and other dignitaries honored France's Righteous among the Nations in a ceremony at the Panthéon, Paris Panthéon, Paris The Panth?on is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris, France. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, but after many changes now combines liturgical functions with its role as a List of cemeteries.... . The Legion of Honor was awarded to 160 French Righteous among the Nations for their efforts saving French Jews during World War II.
	2,213
	1,476
	723
	703
	587
478
	455	Including Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler was a Sudeten Germans industrialist credited with saving almost 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust in his enamelware and ammunitions factories located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.... , the businessman who saved over a thousand Jews by employing them in his factory, and Hans Hans Scholl Hans Fritz Scholl was a core and founding member of the White Rose Widerstand movement in Nazi Germany.... and Sophie Scholl Sophie Scholl Sophia Magdalena Scholl was active within the White Rose non-violent Widerstand group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans Scholl.... , sibling members of the White Rose White Rose The White Rose was a Nonviolence Widerstand group in Nazi Germany, consisting of a number of students from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and their philosophy professor.... resistance movement.
	442
	279	Including Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens and Princess Alice of Battenberg Princess Alice of Battenberg Princess Alice of Battenberg, later Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark , was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh .Congenital hearing loss, she grew up in German Empire, England and the Mediterranean Basin.... .
	127
	124
	118
	106	See Croatian Righteous Among the Nations Croatian Righteous Among the Nations This is the list of Croatian Righteous among the Nations. More than one hundred Croatians have been honored with this title by the state of Israel for saving Jews during World War II....
	111
	85
	73
	63	Toptani, Atif & Ganimet
	54	Including Prince Constantin Karadja Constantin Karadja Prince Constantin Jean Lars Anthony D?m?trius Karadja was a Romanian diplomat, jurist, bibliographer, bibliophile and honorific member of the Romanian Academy.... credited by Yad Vashem with saving over 51,000 Jews .
	42	See Norwegian Righteous among the Nations Norwegian Righteous among the Nations During the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, its History of the Jews in Norway was subject to Holocaust in Norway and Jewish deportees from Norway during World War II to Extermination camp....
	44	Includes Carl Lutz Carl Lutz Carl Lutz was the Switzerland Vice-Consul in Budapest, Hungary from 1942 until the end of World War II. He helped save the lives of tens of thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi Extermination camps during the Holocaust.... , who helped save tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews.
	35	Bosnia only; the source does not count Herzegovina
	22	As per their request, members of the Danish Underground Danish resistance movement The Danish Resistance Movement was an resistance movement to resist the Nazi Germany occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Denmark by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale than in some other countries.... who participated in the rescue of the Danish Jews Rescue of the Danish Jews The rescue of the Danish Jews occurred during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark during World War II. When Hitler ordered that History of the Jews in Denmark be arrested and deported on 1?2 October 1943, many Danes took part in a collective effort to evacuate the roughly 8,000 Jews of Denmark by sea to nearby Sweden.... are listed as one group.
18	Dimitar Peshev Dimitar Peshev Dimitar Peshev was the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria and Minister of Justice during World War II. He rebelled against the pro-Nazism cabinet and prevented the deportation of Bulgaria's 48,000 Jews....
	14	This list includes Major Major In many European languages, the term Major refers to a military rank, denoting seniority at one of usually various levels of rank, for example: "Sergeant-Major" denoting the most senior ranking sergeant of a large military unit; "Captain-Major", denoting a mid-level command status Officer ... Frank Foley Frank Foley Major Francis Edward Foley Order of St Michael and St George was a United Kingdom secret intelligence service officer.... but excludes Sir Nicholas Winton Nicholas Winton Sir Nicholas George Winton, Order of the British Empire is a British people who organised the rescue of about 669 mostly Jewish Czechoslovakia children from their doomed fate in the Nazism Nazi extermination camp before World War II in an operation known as the Czech Kindertransport.... as he is of Jewish parentage
	10
	10
	9	Including Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Wallenberg was a Sweden humanitarian who worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Between July and December of 1944, he issued protective passports and housed Jews, saving tens of thousands of Jewish lives.... , Per Anger Per Anger Per Johan Valentin Anger was a Sweden diplomat who participated in numerous efforts to rescue Hungary Jews from arrest and deportation by the Nazis during World War II.... and Valdemar Langlet Valdemar Langlet Valdemar Langlet [lan?l?] was a Sweden publisher, and an early Esperantist. With his wife Nina Borovko-Langlet in Budapest, he is credited with saving many Jews from the Holocaust, by providing Swedish documents saying that people were waiting for Swedish nationality....
6
	4	Angel Sanz Briz Ángel Sanz Briz ?ngel Sanz Briz was a Spain diplomat during World War II who helped save many Hungarian people Jews from Nazi Germany persecution.After studying law, his first diplomatic posting was to Cairo.... , José Santaella, Carme Santaella and Eduardo Propper de Callejón Eduardo Propper de Callejón Eduardo Propper de Callej?n was a Spain Diplomacy who is mainly remembered for having facilitated the flight of thousands of Jews from Occupied France during the Second World War between 1940 and 1944.... .
	4	Necdet Kent Necdet Kent Ismail Necdet Kent was a Turkeyish diplomat who risked his life to save Jews during World War II. He was posted as Consul General to Marseilles between 1941 and 1944, gave Turkish citizenship to dozens of Turkish Jews living in France who did not have proper identity papers to save them from deportation to the Nazism gas chambers.... , Selâhattin Ülkümen Selâhattin Ülkümen Selahattin ?lk?men was a Turkey diplomat and his country's consul in Rhodes during the Second World War, who assisted many local Jews escape the Holocaust and was declared Righteous Among the Nations.... , Namik Kemal Yolga Namik Kemal Yolga File:Namik Kemal Yolga.jpgNamik Kemal Yolga was a Turkish people diplomat and statesman, known as the Turkey Oskar Schindler. During World War II, Yolga was the Vice-Consul at the Turkish Embassy in Paris, France.... , Behiç Erkin Behiç Erkin Behi? Erkin was a Turkish people soldier with an army career focused on military dispatches, and the first director of the Turkish State Railways, nationalized under his auspices....
	3	Uku Masing Uku Masing Uku Masing was an Estonians philosopher, translator, theologist and folklorist. He developed Estonian analytical philosophy. Masing also wrote poetry, mostly on religious issues.... and Eha Masing, Polina Lentsman
	3	Varian Fry Varian Fry Varian Mackey Fry was a Taft School and Harvard University educated American journalist who ran a rescue network in Vichy France that helped approximately 2,000 to 4,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees to escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.... , Martha Sharp Martha Sharp Martha Ingham Dickie Sharp-Cogan was an United States philanthropist who, along with her husband Waitstill Sharp, helped hundreds of Jews to escape Nazi persecution by sending them off through Czechoslovakia.... , Waitstill Sharp Waitstill Sharp Waitstill Hastings Sharp was a Unitarianism minister. He was the son of naturalist author and professor Dallas Lore Sharp and Grace Hastings. With his wife Martha Sharp, he helped hundreds of Jews escape The Holocaust in Czechoslovakia during World War II....
	2	Pan Jun Shun Pan Jun Shun Pan Jun-Shun , was the first China national to be awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations for hiding and sheltering a Ukrainians Jewish girl during the occupation of part of the Soviet Union during World War II.... and Feng-Shan Ho
	2	Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas Luis Martins de Souza Dantas was a Brazilian diplomat who was awarded the Righteous Among The Nations by the Supreme Court of Israel in June 2003 for his participation during the Holocaust in helping Jews in France escape.... and Aracy de Carvalho Guimarães Rosa Aracy de Carvalho Guimarães Rosa Aracy de Carvalho Guimar?es Rosa, n?e Aracy Moebius de Carvalho, is a former Brazilian diplomatic clerk and winner of the Righteous Among the Nations award.... .
	1	María Edwards María Edwards Mar?a Edwards McClure was a Chilean lady who was honored in November 2005 at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial as one of the "Righteous Among The Nations," for her participation during the Holocaust in helping to save Jews children in France....
	1	Chiune Sugihara Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese people diplomat, serving as Vice Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. Soon after the Occupation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan.... (provided approximately 3,400 transit visas to Jews in need)
	1	Victor Bodson Victor Bodson Victor Bodson was a justice minister of Luxembourg and received the Righteous Among the Nations award by the Supreme Court of Israel for his participation during the Holocaust in helping Jews in Nazi Germany escape persecution from the German government.... (former Justice Minister and Chairman of the Luxembourg House of Representatives; saved approximately 100 Jews)
1	Aristides de Sousa Mendes Aristides de Sousa Mendes Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, Order of Christ , Order of the Freedom , pronunciation. was a Portugal Diplomat who ignored and defied the orders of his own government for the safety of war refugees fleeing from invading German military forces in the early years of World War II.... (issued thousands of visas in order to allow 30,000 people to escape the Nazis)
	1	Sergei Metreveli
	1	Hugh O'Flaherty Hugh O'Flaherty Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, CBE was an Ireland Roman Catholic Church priest who saved about 4,000 Allied soldiers and Jews during World War II. He earned the nickname "the Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican City"....
Total	22,211

The names of all the Righteous among the Nations recognized by Yad Vashem are listed on the virtual wall of honor of Yad Vashem's website. see: http://www1.yadvashem.org/righteous_new/vwall.html

External links

at Yad Vashem
at Holocaust Survivors' Network
at Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center

The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to Tikkun olam one step at a time....
at Jewish Virtual Library
Jewish Virtual Library

The Jewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise . It was established in 1993 and is a comprehensive Web site covering Israel, the Jewish people and Jewish culture....

Righteous Among the Nations

Bestowing

Righteous Among the Nations per country & ethnic origin as of January 1, 2008

See also

External links