Righteous unto the nations

Yad Vashem and “Righteous
Among the Nations”
“And so we must know these good people who
helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must
learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we
must remember them.” (Elie Wiesel)
“Yad Vashem” (meaning the hand of g-d)
is an institute in Jerusalem, Israel, devoted
to honouring the memory of the European
Jews who were murdered during the Second
World War. It is also a research center
where the focus is on studying, documenting
and archiving this human catastrophe
known as the Shoah or the Holocaust.
A very important task and a mitzvah (a
Jewish religious duty or obligation) is to
honour those who, out of humanitarian
motives, put their wellbeing and those of
their families at risk to protect and save
the lives of their Jewish fellow citizens.
The Jewish people confer upon these true
heroes the highest honour to be bestowed
in the State of Israel.
During this solemn ceremony, they will
be given the title of “Righteous Among the
Nations” and their representatives will be
presented with a certificate of honour and
a medal. Their names are now inscribed on
the “Wall of the Righteous” in the gardens
at Yad Vashem, Israel. So far 24,500 people,
including 5,250 Dutch citizens, have
received this award
The medal of honour presented to the
“Righteous” was designed specifically for
Yad Vashem by the Jerusalem artist, Nathan
Karp. He has symbolically expressed on the
medal the words from the Talmud (a central
text of Rabbinic Judaism), “He who saves a
single life has saved all of humanity.”
The medal, below, shows two hands
holding a lifeline of barbed wire giving the
impression of appearing from nowhere.
The globe of the Earth gives strength and
symbolizes the concept that the Righteous
have safeguarded not only the world’s
existence but also our belief in humanity.
PAGE 7
©2013 Edited and compiled by Martin Moen, Perth, Western Australia.