Poles Who Saved Jews Honoured in Warsaw
More than 60 heroes of the Second World War were honoured in Warsaw on the 20th of July. The elderly Poles had risked their lives hiding Jews from the occupying Nazi forces during the war.
The ceremony for the Holocaust rescuers was organized by the American-based Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, which gives Poles who had helped Jews financial aid to supplement their often measly government pensions. In total, more than 6,000 Poles have been presented with Righteous Among Nations medal for saving Jewish lives by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel.
Several of those honoured told their stories to the audience; some had hid whole families at great risk to themselves and their own families. Had they been discovered by the Nazis, it would have meant death for the Poles.