Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Yad Vashem Announces First Arab ‘Righteous Gentile’

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance museum in Israel, has recognized Mohamed Helmy for his bravery in rescuing Jews in Nazi Berlin.

This is the first time that an Arab has received the honor of being a “Righteous Among the Nations” (better known as “Righteous Gentile”) from the commission.

An Egyptian brought up in Khartoum, Helmy moved to Germany to continue his medical studies. Designated a “Hamite” by the Nazis he was unable to marry his German fiancée, but continued to speak out against the prejudice despite his own interests.

Though Helmy died in 1982, Yad Vashem recognized him in 2013. At the time his family declined the honor because it came from Israel but they will accept the honor in Berlin on October 26.

His help was general and specific, Yad Vashem cites the help he gave to Anna Boros and her friends and family. Along with Frieda Szturmann, Helmy hid Boros and, after having made it to freedom Boros was able to visit Helmy in the 1960s.

It was, eventually, her testimony that alerted the commission.

If it weren’t for Dr. Helmy, I would not be here today, as well as my two brothers, Charlie and Fred. In addition, between the three of us, we have seven children who wouldn’t be here as well

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version