Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Dozens of Righteous Gentiles Honored in Poland

Dozens of elderly non-Jewish Poles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust were honored in Warsaw.

Some 55 Poles who have been named Righteous Among Nations over the years by Yad Vashem attended a luncheon gathering Sunday at the Marriott Hotel sponsored by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.

In a series of speeches, Israeli Ambassador Zvi Rav-Ner and other Jewish representatives thanked them for their actions and praised their heroism.

“You, the righteous of the world, think your behavior was ordinary, but we all know it was something more than that. It was truly extraordinary,” said Stanlee Stahl, the executive vice president of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.

Those who attended the event called it a “moving occasion,” particularly given the age of most of the rescuers in attendance.

To date, about 6,400 Poles have been named Righteous Among Nations. More are given the honor each year, but many of the honorees are no longer alive.

At a ceremony in Krakow one week before the Warsaw gathering, Rav-Ner posthumously honored five Polish women as Righteous Gentiles, presenting the awards to their grandchildren.

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 [email protected], 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.