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Righteous Among the Nations

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Righteous Among the Nations (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם, Hasidei Umot HaOlam) is a term used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.

Contents

Origin of the term

Righteous gentiles or "Righteous Among the Nations" was a term originally used in Jewish tradition to deal with the concept of non-Jews who were good and upright people, who through God's mercy would be assured of salvation in the World-to-Come. By Jewish tradition, the large set of laws and precepts contained in the Torah, as well as the Talmud and oral law, are only required of Jews, since they are regarded as having inherited the obligation from their ancestors, who volunteered for the duty.

In contrast to the 613 commandments enjoined upon Jews by Jewish tradition, non-Jews have to follow less detailed ethical principles contained in the Noahide Laws. In the widest sense, any non-Jew who observes the Seven Noachide Commandments is accounted a "Righteous Gentile," who is assured of salvation. In the Torah (Jewish Scriptures), for example, Job, the central figure in the Book of Job, who was a pagan Arab, exemplifies such a person, as does Melchizedek and many others. In this regard (as Abraham's intercession on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18:16-33 shows) it does not matter what culture or religious group the individual comes from; people of all religions and cultures can be saved, if they:

  1. Recognize one God over the entire universe, one divine source for all reality;
  2. Reverence that source and do not blaspheme against it (in this context, according to the Talmudic Rabbis it is permitted to non-Jews, who have not received the Torah, to associate other lesser powers with God as intermediaries or servants, so even polytheists can attain righteousness and be saved, as occurred with the Ninevites when they repented of their sins -- cf. the Book of Jonah);
  3. Support the establishment of courts of justice in society, so that a bottom line of social morality is affirmed and endorsed;
  4. Repudiate murder;
  5. Repudiate robbery;
  6. Repudiate sexual immorality and sexually perverse behaviour that destroys family ties and sanctity (this includes homosexuality, according to the Talmudic sources); and
  7. Repudiate causing unnecessary pain to animals and disrespecting their life.
Other norms are considered by the Talmudic rabbis to follow from these Seven Noahide (or Noahite) Commandments, but these basic Seven were established at the time of Noah, in a Noahide Covenant that God made with all of humanity and which underlies all subsequent human societies. According to Rabbinic teachings, societies which too blatantly disregard this covenant will not endure, as the episode of Sodom and Gomorrah illustrated; in fact, every society is maintained in existence by God only for the sake of the righteous in their midst.

Bestowing of the title

Since 1963, a commission headed by a Supreme Court of Israel justice 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. A person who is recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations for helping jews during the holocaust is awarded a medal bearing their name, a certificate of honor, and the privilege of their name being added to those on the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the Israeli Holocaust Memorial. (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 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. To date, more than 21,300 people, including family members who shared in the rescue of Jews, have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, representing over 8,000 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.

Benefits

Count per country and ethnic origin

See List of Righteous Among the Nations by country for their names.
Count of the Righteous Among the Nations per country and ethnic origin
Country of origin Count of Righteous Among the Nations Notes
Poland 5,941 In Nazi-occupied Poland, all household members were punished by death if a hidden Jew was found in their house. This was the severest legislation in occupied Europe.
Netherlands 4,726 Includes two persons originally from Indonesia residing in the Netherlands
France 2,646
Ukraine 2,139
Belgium 1,414
Hungary 671
Lithuania 630
Belarus 564
Slovakia 460
Germany 427
Italy 391
Greece 265
Yugoslavia 121 Serbia and Montenegro (the source doesn't count Montenegro here)
Russia 120
Czech Republic 115
Croatia 105 See Croatian Righteous Among the Nations
Latvia 100
Austria 85
Moldova 71
Albania 63
Romania 52
Switzerland 38
Bosnia and Herzegovina 34 (the source doesn't count Herzegovina here)
Norway 26
Denmark 21 Per their request, the members of the Danish Underground who participated in the rescue of the Danish Jews are listed as one group.
Bulgaria 17
United Kingdom 13
Sweden 10
Republic of Macedonia 10
Armenia 10
Slovenia 6
China 3
Spain 3
Estonia 3
USA 2
Brazil 2
Finland 1 Algoth Niska
Chile 1
Japan 1
Luxembourg 1
Portugal 1
Turkey 1
Georgia 1
Total 21,311 As of January 1, 2006. (Source: [link])

See also

References

External links

 

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