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Aristides de Sousa Mendes (1885 – 1954)

Portuguese Diplomat

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Sousa Mendes was was the Consul General in Bordeaux when France fell into the Nazi hands in 1940. Though the fascist dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, whose personal belief highly favored Hitler, was able to preserve Portugal’s neutrality during the war, he issued orders to all consuls not to grant visas to foreigners of questionable nationality or to Jews expelled from their countries. Following a few days crisis of conscience, he began issuing visas, an estimated total of about 30,000 of them, to help Jews and other persecuted minorities escape the Nazi terror. For his willful disobedience, he was dishonorably forced to quit his post. He found himself unable to continue his law career; and abandoned by his friends and colleagues. Deprived of his pension, he died in poverty in Lisbon in 1954, still in disgrace with his government. Sousa Mendes’ posthumous honors include being listed as one of the “Righteous among the Nations” by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in 1966; and the Order of Liberty, one of Portugal’s highest honors, in 1987.

“My desire is to be with God against men, rather than with men against God.” – Sousa Mendes

“I could not have acted otherwise, and I therefore accept all that has befallen me with love.” – Sousa Mendes

Albert Göring (1895 – 1966)

German Businessman

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Albert Göring was nothing like his elder brother, Hermann, who was a top Nazi party member. He despised the Nazi philosophy and the brutality it entailed. He would sometimes go out of his way to help Jews with the work that was forced upon them, such as scrubbing the street, but the SS official in charge would order every activity stopped upon learning of his identity, not willing that Hermann’s brother be humiliated in public. On numerous occasions, he would forge his brother’s signature on transit papers or send trucks to concentrations camps with labor requests, enabling many Jews and dissidents to escape. After the war, he was questioned at the Nuremberg Tribunal, where his brother was eventually convicted. He was subsequently released when many of those he had rescued testified on his behalf. Upon his return to Germany, he found himself rejected because of his family name. He passed away in 1966 with his heroic deeds still unacknowledged to this very day.

Necdet Kent (1911 – 2002)

Turkish Diplomat

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Kent was appointed to the post of Consul-General to Marseille from 1941 to 1944. There was one occasion when he himself intervened to save around 80 Jews who were forced to board into cattle trains for transport to Nazi camps. Much overwhelmed with anger by the sight; he boldly approached the German guards and demanded that they, whom he claimed were Turkish citizens, be released. At enormous risk to himself, he jumped onto the train when the guards refused to comply; a German officer ordered him to get off upon reaching the next station, but he was unyielding until the guards finally gave in to his request. As the other consulates in Marseille were beginning to imitate the Nazi attitude toward the Jews, Kent issued identity papers freely to Turkish Jews and other refugees; he also personally protested at the Gestapo headquarters of their detestable act of stripping males in the middle of the street to ascertain whether they are Jews or not, admonishing them that circumscision did not necessarily confirm one’s Jewishness. In 2001, Kent was honored with Turkey’s Supreme Service Medal as well as a special recognition from the Israeli state for saving Jews during the Holocaust.

Paul Grüninger (1891 – 1972)

Swiss Police Official

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Following the 1938 Austrian Anschluss, the government of Switzerland gave orders not to allow any refugees enter its borders. As a commander in the Canton of St. Gallen, Grüninger provided falsely dated travel documents in violation to these orders, thereby allowing some 3,600 Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis in Austria to enter Switzerland. However, when his activities were discovered, he was dismissed in disgrace, convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison. Unable to find work as an ex-convict and denied of his pension rights, he died in poverty in 1972 with his heroic efforts unrecognized. In 1995, he was absolved by the district court of St. Gallen; and was also honored by Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial as one of the “Righteous among the Nations.”

Sára Salkaházi (1899 – 1944)

Hungarian Catholic Sister

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In 1930, Salkaházi, who belonged to an upper class family of German descent, made her religious vows to the Sisters of Social Service, where she had hoped to be sent on missions to Brazil, a hope that never came true due to the outbreak of World War II. During the final months of the war, she protected around 100 Jews in a house belonging to the Sisters of her order in Budapest, with the vow to sacrifice her own life in order to prevent any harm from happening to the other sisters. However, the Jews she had sheltered were betrayed by a woman employed at the sisters’ house to a Hungarian pro-Nazi party. She was not present when the arrest occurred and could have escaped, yet she opted to return. They were brought to the bank of the Danube River, where they were all shot to death. Her heroic deeds for the Hungarian Jews were acknowledged by Yad Vashem in 1972 upon the recommendation of a daughter of one of the Jews who were executed along with her.

Corrie ten Boom (1892 – 1983)

Dutch reformed Christian Preacher

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The Ten Boom family was known for their many charitable works and gracious character toward everyone, especially the mentally and physically handicapped. When the Nazi occupied Netherlands in 1940, Corrie and her family became active in the Dutch underground resistance, helping all refugees (including many Jews and those hunted by the Gestapo) arriving at their doorsteps without any hesitation, allowing them to stay in their place that became known as “de schuilplaats” (Dutch for “the hiding place”). In February 1944, Corrie and her entire family were betrayed to the authorities. They were sent first to Scheveningen prison, where her father died a few days later; and then to the infamous Ravensbrück concentration camp, where her sister Betsie died. Corrie was released on Christmas day of 1944; but it was later learned that her freedom was actually due to clerical error, as all female captives her age in the camp were executed the week after. After the war, she traveled the world as a preacher of the Gospel, emphasizing on God’s forgiveness and love. This remarkable lady even forgave one of the cruelest former camp guards who came up to her during one of her sermons in Germany, an event she recounted in her book “Tramp for the Lord.” Ten Boom was honored as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israel’s Yad Vashem in 1967.

“For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.” – “Tramp for the Lord” by Corrie ten Boom

Prince Constantin Karadja (1889 – 1950)

Romanian Diplomat and Barrister

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(Prince Constantin Karadja in 1916)

Karadja was the Romanian Consul-General in Berlin (1931 – 1941) and the director of the consular department in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1941 – 1944). Profoundly influenced by humanistic education he received in England, he adhered to the principles of international law concerning human rights. As a person of strong resolve, he never gave in to political pressures but exerted great pains at diplomatic level to protect the rights of Romanian citizens in various parts of Europe, irregardless of religion or ethnicity. Once, he received orders to stamp the word “Jew” onto the passports of Romanian Jews, he responded in protest that such act will worsen their conditions in Germany, somehow placing needless obstacles to their return to Romania. For his decisive actions in favor of Jews of Romanian citizenship that also benefited many others from Hungary, France and Germany, he was tagged by the German authorities as a “persona non grata.” Thanks to his efforts, 600 French Jews, 10,000 Romanian Jews, 51,000 Hungarian Jews and a few dozen German Jews returned or migrated to Romania, saved from the very clutches of their Nazi pursuers. In 2005, Karadja was posthumously honored for his actions as “Righteous among the Nations” during a ceremony held at the Israeli embassy in Berlin.

Feng Shan Ho (1901 – 1997)

Chinese Diplomat

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Ho was named Consul General of the Chinese consulate in Vienna in 1938, the year when Austria was annexed into Greater Germany by the Nazi regime (Anschluss). After Kristallnacht (Nazi-coordinated attacks on the Jews) later in the year, the situation became increasing difficult for Austrian Jews who were required to show proof of emigration, normally a visa, in order to leave the country. Out of humanitarian concern and in direct violation of the orders of his superior, Ho freely granted visas to Shanghai and continued to do so until 1940 when he was relieved of his duty. Undeniably, thousands of Jewish individuals and families were able to leave for Shanghai, from where a majority would soon after leave for Australia and Hongkong. Ho was posthumously recognized with the title “Righteous among the Nations” in 2001 and came to be known as the “China’s Schindler.”

More Holocaust-themed articles:

·        Heroes of the Holocaust & Their Stories of Courage 1

·        Famous Holocaust Survivors

·        Six Classic Holocaust Literatures

As follows are but some extraordinary men and women, who, at great personal risks, have done all they could to save lives. Most of their deeds may have gone unnoticed during their lifetimes but many have been honored by Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial with the title “Righteous among the Nations” or “Righteous Gentiles” recognizing those non-Jews who helped save Jews from the Holocaust.

Raoul Wallenberg (1912 – 1947?)

Swedish Diplomat

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Immediately following his arrival as First Secretary to the Swedish embassy in Budapest in July 1944, Wallenberg used his diplomatic status to issue “protective passports” to thousands of Jews, identifying them as Swedish citizens, thereby preventing their deportation to death camps. He would often personally intervene to obtain the release of these passport bearers, including those with forged documents, from the Jews who were forced to march toward the Austrian-Hungarian border for deportation, saving as many lives as possible. He even rented more than 30 buildings to house about 10,000 Jewish refugees, putting up fake signs as “The Swedish Research Institute” and hanging the Swedish flag to avoid detection. All in all, this soft-spoken Swede is credited to have rescued more Jews than any single rescuer or country, around 100,000 of them; but he was unable to save his own. In January 1945, he was taken by the Soviet Red Army troops to a Soviet prison, where he was reported to have died in 1947, although the exact circumstances of his death are still very much in dispute.

Irena Sendler (1910 – 2008)

Polish Catholic Social Worker

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People and their households caught hiding Jews risked death sentences in German-occupied Poland. As a Jewish sympathizer since childhood, Sendler (Sendlerowa) and her friends produced thousands of false documents to help Jewish families prior to joining the resistance group Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews). Upon her appointment as head of Zegota’s newly formed children’s department, she organized the smuggling of some 2,500 children out of Warsaw ghetto and had them placed in Polish families, orphanages and convents. She gave each child a new identity and carefully recorded their names and placements so that they could be returned to surviving relatives after the war. Her work was interrupted when she was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death by the Gestapo in 1943. However, she was successfully rescued by Zegota before her scheduled execution. She then went into hiding and resumed her work for Jewish children for the remainder of the war. In 2003, she received Poland’s highest civilian decoration, the Order of the White Eagle.

“Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence on this Earth and not a title to glory.” – Sendler’s letter to Polish Parliament

Giovanni Palatucci (1909 – 1945)

Italian Police Official and Lawyer

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Palatucci entered the police service in 1936 and was assigned to be in charge the Adriatic seaport of Fiume (present day Rijeka, Croatia). When anti-Jewish laws were enacted in 1938, he used his authority as chief of the Foreigners’ Office to forge travel papers that permitted hundreds of Jews flee persecution in Eastern Europe and settle in Fiume, sometimes even providing them with funds. However, his effort became riskier in 1943, when Mussolini’s government fell and the Nazis occupied the place. In defiance against orders to arrest and deport the Jews in the area, he made sure that they were sent instead to a prison-turned refugee camp managed by his uncle, Bishop Giuseppe Maria Palatucci, in Campania southern Italy, by destroying documented records of some 5,000 Jewish refugees, thus saving them from certain death in concentration camps. When his activities were discovered in 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo, and sent to Dachau, where he died just a few months shy of his 36th birthday.

Andre Trocmé (1901 – 1971)

French Protestant Pastor

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Andre Trocmé, as the spiritual leader of the town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and as a man clearly driven by ethical and religious convictions, spoke against discrimination as the Nazis were gaining power in bordering Germany and repeatedly asked his congregation to help protect “the people of the Bible.” When the Nazi occupied France, he and his wife Magda (1901 – 1996) arranged for the rescue of between 3,000 to 5,000 Jews fleeing the Nazi persecution. Under their leadership, many private families willing to take in Jewish refugees and children were located, and town schools got ready for a sudden increase in the number of students. Their courageous efforts made Le Chambon and nearby villages a unique refuge in Nazi-occupied France. When forced to produce a list of Jews in the town, he responded, “We do not know what a Jew is; we know only men.” Despite rumors of his imminent arrest, he encouraged his congregation to “do the will of God and not of men.” In January 1971, Yad Vashem recognized André and Magda Trocmé as “Righteous among the Nations.”

Oskar Schindler (1908 – 1974)

German Industrialist

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Schindler was an unlikely rescuer of the Jews, as he was all too flawed. He was a Nazi, a womanizer, and an opportunistic businessman motivated by greed; and yet he heeded the call of his conscience. He initially sought to profit from the 1939 German invasion of Poland by hiding wealthy Jews and employing around 1,000 cheap Jewish slave laborers for his ammunition factory in Poland. However, appalled by the immense brutality of Nazism, he began shielding his workers without any regard for cost. He smuggled children out of ghettos and used his connections in high places to request for hundreds of Jews to be moved to an adjoining factory. He would call on his legendary charm and persuasive eloquence to help his “Schindlerjuden” (”Schindler Jews” as they came to be known) get out of difficult situations, claiming that women, children, handicapped and unskilled workers were vital to his business. While he died penniless at age 66 having spent all his wealth by the end of the war and having failed in his post-war business efforts, he gained the perpetual gratitude of his Jews, whom he affectionately referred to as “my children.” He is the only Nazi to be buried in a cemetery in Jerusalem.

Nicholas Winton (1909 – )

British Stockbroker

(Winton holding a boy)

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In 1939, Winton visited Prague at the invitation of a friend from the British Embassy and was alarmed by the influx of refugees, endangered by the impending Nazi invasion. He noticed that the refugee camps set up by the British team were dealing mostly with the elderly and other vulnerable adults, but nothing was being done for the children. So he took it upon himself to organize the Czech Kindertransport, managing to save 669 children out eight trains prior to the outbreak of World War II and finding them foster parents in England and Sweden. He was not troubled by the fact that his humanitarian efforts went unrecognized for he did not view his acts as something extraordinary. His exploits became known only in 1988 when his late wife discovered lists of children and letters from their parents in the attic. He is very much revered as the father who rescued his many “children” from certain death in Nazi camps. Known as “Schindler of Britain,” Winton currently lives in Maindenhead, Great Britain; he was knighted in 2002 and was nominated by the Czech government for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.

Chiune Sugihara (1900 – 1986)

Japanese Diplomat

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Though Sugihara was named vice-consul of the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1939, his main duty was to keep the Japanese forces informed of the Soviet and German troop movements. Following the 1940 Soviet invasion of Lithuania, Polish Jews as well as Lithuanian Jews had difficulty acquiring exit visa, making it unsafe to travel and difficult to find countries that will issue them. With no discernible motivation other than to do the right thing, he started issuing visas to all who applied including those who did not meet immigration requirements, allowing them to enter Japan for up to 15 days, in direct violation of his orders. He was subsequently reassigned to Berlin when the Soviet took over Lithuania. While en route to the train station, he continued to give out visas for a mob of desperate refugees surrounding his car. However, many passports remained unstamped when he boarded the train, so he threw the official stamp to the crowd. His altruistic acts saved anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 Jews based on some estimates. Sugihara, the “Japanese Schindler,” was honored as “Righteous among the Nations” by the Israeli government in 1985.

“I cannot allow these people to die, people who have come to me for help with death staring them in the eyes. Whatever punishment may be imposed on me, I know I should follow my conscience.” – Sugihara

Varian Fry (1907 – 1967)

American Journalist

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Distressed by what he personally saw of Nazi barbarities against Jews during his 1935 Berlin visit as a foreign correspondent for an American journal, the Harvard-educated Fry started to help raise funds for European anti-Nazi movements. Following the 1940 invasion of France, he went to Marseille and ran an elaborate rescue network in direct opposition to French and even some American authorities. Despite being under constant surveillance by the puppet Vichy regime, he was able to secure visas with the aid of American Vice-Consul in Marseille Hiram Bingham IV for around 3,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees (among whom were many prominent artists and intellectuals including Marc Chagall and Wilhelm Herzog among others) escape to neutral Portugal before making their way to the United States. A few months prior to his death, France presented him with the Legion of Honor for his heroic work in Marseille from 1940 to1941. Fry, also known as the “American Schindler,” was posthumously honored by Yad Vashem in 1996, the very first American to be listed as “Righteous among the Nations.”

More Holocaust-themed articles:

·        Heroes of the Holocaust & Their Stories of Courage 2

·        Famous Holocaust Survivors

·        Six Classic Holocaust Literatures