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Aron and Lisa with Tadek Soroka, the Pole who helped them escape, on the occasion of Soroka's recognition as a "Righteous among the nations" by Yad Vashem. Jerusalem, Israel, 1983.
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Righteous Among the Nations

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Aron and Lisa with Tadek Soroka, the Pole who helped them escape, on the occasion of Soroka's recognition as a "Righteous among the nations" by Yad Vashem. Jerusalem, Israel, 1983.
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Aron and Lisa with Tadek Soroka
Bert and Anne Bochove, who hid 37 Jews in their pharmacy in Huizen, an Amsterdam suburb, pose here with their children. The two were named Righteous Among the Nations. The Netherlands, 1944 or 1945.
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Bert and Anne Bochove with their children
Diagram showing "the web of communications" between Japanese diplomats and members of the Polish resistance in the Baltic states and Scandinavia. The "Konsulat japonski Kowno" refers to Sugihara. Despite its ties with Nazi Germany, Japan pursued its own course in foreign policy. After the Germans occupied Poland and the Netherlands, Japan continued relations with both the Polish and Dutch governments-in-exile in London. July 1940.
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Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara
Exterior view of barracks at the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Ravensbrueck, Germany, between May 1939 and April 1945.
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Corrie ten Boom
Dr. Joseph Jaksy, who rescued 25 Jews during the war. He provided them with hiding places, money, medicine and forged identification papers. Jaksy was named "Righteous Among the Nations." Czechoslovakia, prewar.
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Dr. Joseph Jaksy, who rescued 25 Jews during the war
Semmy Woortman-Glasoog with Lientje, a 9-month-old Jewish girl she hid. Woortman-Glasoog was active in a network which found foster homes, hiding places, and false papers for Jewish children. She was later named "Righteous Among the Nations." Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between 1942 and 1944.
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Dutch rescuer Semmy Woortman-Glasoog
Father Bruno with Jewish children he hid from the Germans. Yad Vashem recognized Father Bruno as "Righteous Among the Nations." Belgium, wartime.
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Rescuer Father Bruno
Père Jacques de Jésus (born Lucien Bunel) was a Carmelite headmaster of a Catholic boys school in Avon, France. Angered at Nazi policies, he made his school a refuge for young men seeking to avoid forced labor and for Jews. On January 15, 1944, the Gestapo raided the school, seizing Père Jacques and three Jewish children. The boys were deported to Auschwitz and killed. Père Jacques, sent to various concentration camps, died shortly after liberation.
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Father Jacques
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Gino Bartali
Hermine Orsi sheltered a number of Jews in her home and helped others reach refuge in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Yad Vashem recognized her as "Righteous Among the Nations." Marseille, France, 1940.
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Hermine Orsi
Calvinist minister Gerardus Pontier and his wife, Dora Wartema, at Yad Vashem, where they were honored for hiding Jewish children in the Netherlands. Pontier and Wartema were named "Righteous Among the Nations." Jerusalem, Israel, 1968.
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Honoring Gerardus Pontier and Dora Wartema
Oskar Schindler plants a tree on the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem. The Righteous Among the Nations are non-Jewish invididuals who have been honored by Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, for risking their lives to aid Jews during the Holocaust.
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Honoring Oskar Schindler
Portrait of Irena Sendler in Warsaw, Poland, circa 1939. Irena Sendler (1910–2008) was a member of the Council for Aid to Jews, codenamed “Żegota.” Żegota was a clandestine rescue organization of Poles and Jews in German-occupied Poland. Supported by the Polish government-in-exile, Żegota coordinated efforts to save Jews from Nazi persecution and murder. It operated from 1942 to 1945.  Irena Sendler (Sendlerowa) was working as a social worker in Warsaw when World War II broke out in 1939. After the Nazis forced Warsaw’s Jews to move into the ghetto in the fall of 1940, Irena used her position and prewar network to supply food and offer financial assistance to Jews. By early 1943, Irena had joined Żegota. Żegota members secured hiding places for Polish Jews. They also delivered money, food, false identity documents, and medical assistance to those in their care. Under the alias “Jolanta,” Irena helped smuggle several hundred Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto. She found hiding places for them in orphanages, convents, schools, hospitals, and private homes. Irena provided each child with a new identity. She carefully recorded their original names and placements in code so that relatives could find them after the war. In the fall of 1943, Irena was appointed head of Żegota’s children's section. Only a few days later, she was arrested by the Gestapo (German secret state police). The Gestapo brutally beat and tortured her. Nonetheless, Irena never revealed the names of the children or her colleagues. She was later released from the Gestapo prison thanks to a bribe organized by her fellow rescuers. Despite the dangers, Irena continued working with Żegota under a new alias.  Irena Sendler survived the war. In 1965, Yad Vashem recognized her as “Righteous Among the Nations.”
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Portrait of Żegota member Irena Sendler
Irena Sendler (1910–2008) was a member of the Council for Aid to Jews, codenamed “Żegota.” Żegota was a clandestine rescue organization of Poles and Jews in German-occupied Poland. Supported by the Polish government-in-exile, Żegota coordinated efforts to save Jews from Nazi persecution and murder. It operated from 1942 to 1945.  Irena Sendler (Sendlerowa) was working as a social worker in Warsaw when World War II broke out in 1939. After the Nazis forced Warsaw’s Jews to move into the ghetto in the fall of 1940, Irena used her position and prewar network to supply food and offer financial assistance to Jews. By early 1943, Irena had joined Żegota. Żegota members secured hiding places for Polish Jews. They also delivered money, food, false identity documents, and medical assistance to those in their care. Under the alias “Jolanta,” Irena helped smuggle several hundred Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto. She found hiding places for them in orphanages, convents, schools, hospitals, and private homes. Irena provided each child with a new identity. She carefully recorded their original names and placements in code so that relatives could find them after the war. In the fall of 1943, Irena was appointed head of Żegota’s children's section. Only a few days later, she was arrested by the Gestapo (German secret state police). The Gestapo brutally beat and tortured her. Nonetheless, Irena never revealed the names of the children or her colleagues. She was later released from the Gestapo prison thanks to a bribe organized by her fellow rescuers. Despite the dangers, Irena continued working with Żegota under a new alias.  Irena Sendler survived the war. In 1965, Yad Vashem recognized her as “Righteous Among the Nations.” In this interview, Irena Sendler describes how she was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo.
Oral History
Irena Sendler describes how she was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo
Jan Karski (standing), underground courier for the Polish government-in-exile. He informed the west in the fall of 1942 about Nazi atrocities against Jews taking place in Poland. Pictured in his office in Washington, DC, United States, 1944.
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Jan Karski
Jan Karski and General Colin Powell meet during the opening ceremonies of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Washington, DC, April 22, 1993.
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Jan Karski and General Colin Powell

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