Righteous Among the Nations Totally Explained

Everything about Righteous Among The Nations totally explained

Righteous among the Nations (Chassidey Umot HaOlam), which may at times refer to the B'nei Noah or Noahides as well, is a term used in Judaism to refer to non-Jews who abide by the Seven Laws of Noah and thus are assured of meriting paradise.
In secular usage, the term is used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. The secular award (discussed below) by the same name given by the State of Israel has often been translated into English as "Righteous Gentile."

Bestowing of the title

When Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, was established in 1953 by the Knesset, one of its tasks was to commemorate the "Righteous Among the Nations". The Righteous were defined as non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Since 1963, a commission headed by a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel has been charged with the duty of awarding the honorary title "Righteous Among the Nations." The commission is guided in its work by certain criteria and meticulously studies all documentation, including evidence by survivors and other eyewitnesses, evaluates the historical circumstances and the element of risk to the rescuer, and then decides if the case accords with the criteria.
   A person who is recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" for having taken risks to help Jews during the Holocaust is awarded a medal bearing his name, a certificate of honor, and the privilege of having his name added to those on the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. (The last is in lieu of a tree-planting, which was discontinued for lack of space.) The awards are distributed to the rescuers or their next-of-kin during ceremonies in Israel or in their countries of residence through the offices of Israel's diplomatic representatives. These ceremonies are attended by local government representatives and are given wide media coverage.
   The Yad Vashem Law also authorizes Yad Vashem "To confer honorary citizenship upon the Righteous Among the Nations, and if they've passed away, the commemorative citizenship of the State of Israel, in recognition of their actions." Anyone who has been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations is entitled to apply to Yad Vashem for the certificate. If the Righteous Among the Nations is no longer alive, their next of kin is entitled to request that commemorative citizenship be conferred on the Righteous Among the Nations who has died.
   By 1 January 2008, 22,211 men and women from 44 countries have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, representing over 10,000 authenticated rescue stories. Yad Vashem's policy is to pursue the program for as long as petitions for this title are received and are supported by solid evidence that meets the criteria.

Count by country

See List of Righteous Among the Nations by country for names of individual Righteous Gentiles. Count of the Righteous Among the Nations by country>

Country of origin	Count of Righteous Among the Nations	Notes
	6,066	In German-occupied Poland, all household members were punished by death if a hidden Jew was found in their house. This was the most severe legislation in occupied Europe. See Polish Righteous Among the Nations
	4,863	Includes two persons originally from Indonesia residing in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, people hiding Jews would usually be punished by either being sent to concentration camps themselves or even by being shot (usually after a "trial"). Several hundreds of communist resistance workers never received recognition for saving Jews, because they acted as intermediates in bringing Jews, especially children, to hiding places and their names remained unknown (many of them died in concentration camps).
	2,833	In January, 2007, French President Jacques Chirac and other dignitaries honored France's Righteous Among the Nations in a ceremony at the Panthéon, Paris. The Legion of Honor was awarded to 160 French Righteous Among the Nations for their efforts saving French Jews during World War II.
	2,213
	1,476
	723
	703
	587
	478
	455	This includes Oskar Schindler, perhaps the most famous of the Righteous Among the Nations.
	442
	279
	127
	124
	118
	106	See Croatian Righteous Among the Nations
	111
	85
	73
	63
	54	Including Prince Constantin Karadja credited by Yad Vashem with saving over 51,000 Jews (External Link).
	42	See Norwegian Righteous Among the Nations
	44	Includes Carl Lutz who helped save tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews.
	35	Bosnia only; the source doesn't count Herzegovina
	22	As per their request, members of the Danish Underground who participated in the rescue of the Danish Jews are listed as one group.
	18	Dimitar Peshev
	14	This list includes Frank Foley but excludes Nicholas Winton
	10
	10
	9	Including Raoul Wallenberg credited by Yad Vashem with saving 15,000 Jews.
	6
	4
	4	Necdet Kent, Selahattin Ulkumen, Namık Kemal Yolga, Behic Erkin
	3
	3	Varian Fry, Martha Sharp, Waitstill Sharp
	2	Feng-Shan Ho
	2	Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas and Aracy de Carvalho Guimarães Rosa.
	1
	1	Chiune Sugihara (provided approximately 3,400 transit visas to Jews in need(External Link))
	1	Victor Bodson (former Justice Minister and Chairman of the Luxembourg House of Representatives; saved approximately 100 Jews)
	1	Aristides de Sousa Mendes (issued thousands of visas in order to allow 30,000 people to escape the Nazis)
	1
	1	Hugh O'Flaherty
Total	22,211	As of January 1, 2008

The names of all the Righteous Among the Nations recognized by Yad Vashem are listed on the virtual wall of honor of Yad Vashem's website. see: http://www1.yadvashem.org/righteous_new/vwall.html

Further Information

Get more info on 'Righteous Among The Nations'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://righteous_among_the_nations.totallyexplained.com">Righteous Among the Nations Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.