International Holocaust Remembrance Day is on 27th January, and I am posting this as a tribute to all those who have helped anyone persecuted by the Nazi regime during World War Two.

January 27 is the date, in 1945, when the largest Nazi death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland) was liberated by Soviets troops.

Jews were the primary victims of Nazi hatred, but others killed or persecuted include European Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), Gay men and Lesbians, the physically and mentally Disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, political opponents, Soviet prisoners of war.

Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem, is the Jewish people's memorial to the murdered Six Million and symbolizes the ongoing confrontation with the rupture engendered by the Holocaust.

Attitudes towards the Jews during the Holocaust mostly ranged from indifference to hostility. The mainstream watched as their former neighbors were rounded up and killed; some collaborated with the perpetrators; many benefited from the expropriation of the Jews property. But in this world of moral collapse there was a small minority who mustered extraordinary courage to uphold human values.

One of the principal duties of Yad Vashem is to convey the gratitude of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. This mission was defined by the law establishing Yad Vashem, and in 1963 the Remembrance Authority embarked upon a worldwide project to grant the title of Righteous Among the Nations to the few who helped Jews in the darkest time in their history. Those recognized receive a medal and a certificate of honor and their names are commemorated on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem.

The Righteous honored by Yad Vashem come from 44 countries; they are Christians from all denominations as well as Muslims, religious and agnostic, men and women, people from all walks of life, of all ages, educated professionals and illiterate peasants, rich and poor. The only common denominator is the humanity and the courage they displayed by standing up for their moral principles.

I have created a placemark for at least one person from each of these 44 countries; some are famous, others I've never heard of before, but all their stories have humbled me greatly, and I'm proud to be able to honour them in this small way.

Some of the Righteous saved just one person from certain death, others saved hundreds and even thousands.

Jewish law, as written in the Talmud says:-

"To save one life is as if you have saved the world"

Here are some of the Righteous - please open the attachment at the end of this post, to open the placemarks in Google Earth to read about many more of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Pan Jun Shun was the first Chinese national to be awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations for hiding and sheltering a Ukrainian Jewish girl during the occupation of part of the Soviet Union during World War II.

And Tatiana Zelenskaya who took four-year-old Luba Kogan into her home, and eventually adopted her.

Tatiana Zelenskaya with her daughter, Luba, at Yad Vashem

Giovanni Palatucci was an Italian police official who saved thousands of Jews from being deported to Nazi extermination camps. He forged documents and visas, and managed to destroy all documented records of the 5,000 Jewish refugees living in the town, issuing them false papers and providing them with funds. Palatucci was arrested on September 13, 1944. He was condemned to death, but the sentence was later commuted to deportation to Dachau, where he died.

Giovanni Palatucci

Irena Sendler was a Polish Catholic social worker. During World War II, she was a member of the Polish Underground in Warsaw. Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, providing false documents and sheltering them in individual or group children's homes outside the ghetto.

Irene Sendler shortly before her death in May 2008

Major Karl Plagge was a German officer and Nazi Party member who, during World War II, employed some 1,240 Jews - 500 men, and the rest women and children - for forced labor, thus giving them a better chance to survive the nearly total annihilation of Lithuania's Jews that took place between 1941-1943.

Karl Plagge

In 1932 Jane Haining became matron of the girls' home at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest, Hungary. She looked after 50 of the school's 400 pupils, and quickly became fluent in Hungarian. Most of the pupils were Jewish. She was holidaying in Cornwall in 1939 when the Second World War broke out, and she immediately returned to Budapest. She refused to return to Scotland as ordered in 1940, determined to remain with her girls. After the Nazi invasion of Hungary in March 1944, she again refused to leave.

She was arrested in April 1944 and detained by the Gestapo, accused, amongst other things, of working among Jews and listening to the BBC. She admitted all the charges, except those of political activity.

She was sent to Auschwitz in May 1944, where she was tattooed as prisoner 79467. She sent a last postcard on 15 July 1944, and died "in hospital" at Auschwitz on 17 July 1944.

Jane Haining

A final example, as told by Sazan Hoxha (son of Nuro Hoxha):-

"As devout Muslims we extended our protection and humanism to the Jews. Why? Besa, friendship and the holy Koran. This is a picture of my father that I hold to my heart.

"I am the oldest son of Nuro Hoxha, who was well known as a teacher and a religious Muslim here in our community of Vlore. I remember those terrible times when the Nazis moved into Vlore from Greece, and the Jews went into hiding. I was ten years old. The Jews in Vlore, Berat, and Elbasan had been living in Albania since 1490, and many fled here from Ioannina in Greece.

"My father sheltered four Jewish families. They all were his friends. I remember my father's words to those he took in: 'Now we are one family. You won't suffer any evil. My sons and I will defend you against peril at the cost of our lives.'

Sazan Hoxha with photograph of his father, Nuro Hoxha

What a fascinating journey! I learnt a lot. What courage these people had, and how good it is know that there are people in world prepared to help others regardless of race or religion.

Damn BJ. This is great

Must have taken sometime. Thank you.

Thanks guys

I have to admit that there were many occasions when I had tears in my eyes researching the stories - it was a very humbling experience and one I feel very honoured to have done.

I have done placemarks for 70 of these amazing people, but there are over 22,000, and probably many more who have not been identified. And when you think that these are all non-Jews.....add the Jews from many countries who helped not just their fellow Jews, but the gypsies, homosexuals, disabled, the numbers are staggering.

I hope to add some of their stories at some point.

Another story not included:

Necdet Kent was a young vice consul in Marseille. He was issuing Turkish citizenship for French citizens who were originally Turkish and for stateless.

One night, the official translator Sidi Iscan went his home to wake him up. He informed Kent that about 80 Turkish Jews were to be transported to Germany. Both run for the train station and asked the Nazi officer to release the Turkish citizens.

The officer rejected with a laugh. As a response, they two got on the train. Several officers in the train who abstained from the situation ordered the mechanist to stop on the way. They requested Kent and Iscan to quit the train. Kent and Iscan rejected to leave the train if the Turkish citizens were not released accordingly. In the end, as it was going to be a diplomatic crisis, Nazi officers let the Jews leave the train.

Hi tek

Thank you for sharing this story...the bravery of these people is amazing.

I found a photo of Necdet Kent

Necdet Kent (1911-2002)

Beadie -

Beautiful post, and like Noisette, I've learned a lot. Ever since reading the Diary of Anne Frank when I was a child I have wondered whether I would have the courage to do what people like these have done.

Five stars from me,
Diane

Beautiful work, BeadieJay! Your placemarks honor the righteous with righteous dignity and respect and, also, in so doing help to memorialize those who never benefited from their good works.

The placemark icons enmass help,once again, to remind us of the scope of that decade of agony in Europe in mid-century.

Very moving!!

Thank you both Diane and Jumble for your kind comments.

Diane - we recently had a new t.v. adaptation of the Anne Frank story, here in the UK, and my children (aged nearly 14 and nearly 13) were engrossed by it. They know that I have the book, but they have not yet read it, so I was pleased that they were so taken with the t.v. series.....it was one of the best that I have seen, truly claustrophobic and bleak; the actors looked so much like the real people, and the acting itself was superb. My daughter was especially pleased to know that Miep Gies, who helped Anne's family, is still alive and will be 100 years old just four days before her own (13th) birthday. She has written Miep's birthday in our family diary, and I am sure that we will have a little celebration of her life on that day - 15th February.

When I researched this project, I was shocked to realise that Miep would have destroyed Anne's diary if she had read it. Thank goodness that she did not, because we would have missed out on a most valuable insight into life for Jewish families in Holland in those awful days.

Here is a link to the BBC webpage about the series

Jumble - I am so glad that you think I've created a suitable memorial to these courageous people. That was definitely my aim. These people should never be forgotten.

well placemarked, beadiejay. there were many righteous among the nations, whether they were well known or not so well known. to be honest, I like the unknown. I once had a crush on a girl who played an astonishing role of anne frank, directed by jeroen krabb� in 1985.



her life was to be a promising actress but after a few years she started to learn to paint, married a frenchman and moved to paris and permanently turned her back to glitter and fame. not much is known of her nowadays (only five dutch sentences in wikipedia), but I managed to find her web site with her paintings. most of her work is really good and some might be called offensive by depicting jesus with the star of david on his chest or the catholic picture of mary with the same star of david. but then again the fact that in this series, every painting is signed with the phrase your people shall be my people in hebrew (ruth 1:16) strikes me personally with a sense of honesty this woman possesses. I learned about the fact that she could identify closely to the roles she played and anne frank has left a deep impact on her life.

I could give you her name but as my story already reveals, she likes to be unknown to the rest of the world. please try to figure out for yourself who she is, BDJ. and if you really can't find her, leave me a PM.

in april - may this year, she will have an exposition in the jewish synagoge, groningen. I might even meet her face to face.

Thank you Kite

I find the stories of the unknown heroes to be especially moving, and all the more upsetting that many of them didn't get the recognition they deserved until after their deaths. Believe me, many tears were shed when I worked on this post - at times it was too painful to keep going, which makes me feel so weak, because I couldn't cope with continually reading of the horrors, whereas they lived through them.

Thank you for posting about this artist....to prove I have found her, here is a photo of her with a Holocaust survivor called Ruth Elias...this photo was taken with the artist at Auschwitz.

Here's a little of Ruth's story - although she's not one of the Righteous, her story still deserves repeating.



US Holocaust Memorial Museum


I hope you get to meet her!

I am very sad to report that Miep Gies, who is famous for helping Anne Frank and her family, has died shortly before her 101st birthday.

I feel incredibly sad that this brave lady is no longer with us, and hope that she will rest in eternal peace. She will never be forgotten for the work she did in bringing Anne Franks' story to the world.

BBC News

This is an excellent compilation of pictures, stories, and places, BDJ. It was a moving experience to read some of those stores of true heroes. Thank you very much.

Places shootings of civilians in 1941-1944
Еupatoria


Simferopol

International Holocaust Memorial Day is tomorrow, 27th January, and I invite you all to visit their website to light a virtual candle.



http://www.hmd.org.uk/