Righteous Among the Nations

An honor awarded by Yad Vashem to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, without seeking material reward.

Oskar Schindler: A German industrialist who saved more than a thousand Jews by employing them in his factories. His factory workforce became a means of protection, though his case is distinct from many rescuers’ circumstances.
Yad Vashem: Israel’s official memorial and research institution for the Holocaust and its victims. Yad Vashem administers the honor and preserves its records.
The Holocaust: The genocide of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The award recognizes rescue from this genocide and its surrounding persecution.
Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations: A memorial garden at Yad Vashem bearing the names of people honored as Righteous Among the Nations. The garden gives the honor a lasting public memorial at Yad Vashem.
Raoul Wallenberg: A Swedish diplomat who issued protective documents and sheltered Jews in Budapest in 1944. His diplomatic status enabled an unusually large rescue effort in occupied Hungary.
Commission for the Designation of the Righteous: A Yad Vashem commission that reviews evidence and decides who qualifies for the honor. Its case-by-case judgments turn testimony and documentation into formal recognition.
Nazi persecution of Jews: The escalating exclusion, dispossession, confinement, deportation, and murder of Jews under Nazi rule. Rescuers acted against policies that made Jews vulnerable to arrest and death.
Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations: A Yad Vashem memorial avenue planted with trees dedicated to honored rescuers. Tree dedications provide a visible form of commemoration for recognized rescuers.
Irena Sendler: A Polish social worker who helped smuggle Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto. Her clandestine work illustrates rescue through forged papers, escape routes, and hidden identities.
Holocaust survivor testimony: Firsthand accounts by people who experienced persecution and mass murder during the Holocaust. Survivors’ accounts can establish how a rescue occurred and who took part.

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