Some 30 years ago, when I was Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania and Latvia, I was deeply moved, often to the point of tears, when presenting certificates on behalf of Yad Vashem to those recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. A “Righteous Among the Nations” is a non-Jew who, during the Holocaust, risked their life, liberty, or personal safety to save Jews from death or deportation to camps, without seeking any reward.
More than 90% of the Jews who lived in these countries during the Nazi occupation were murdered, many of them by locals. It was often done without direct German involvement since the zeal to annihilate Jews was particularly high.
Honoring the Righteous Among the Nations
For that very reason, I felt it was important to highlight those who acted differently. I made every effort to ensure that the ceremonies honoring them were as dignified as possible. On one occasion, I presented certificates at a reception for Independence Day, attended by the president and prime minister.
In other cases, I used opportunities such as visits by the speaker of the Knesset or the opening of an exhibition to honor them. Only when the rescuers were too frail to attend did I go to their homes. In all cases, I sought media coverage, both to ensure that they received public recognition and, implicitly, to point to the others: the collaborators and the bystanders, those who knew and did nothing.
The heroes I met were diverse – poor and rich, professionals and uneducated, urban and rural. They shared one exceptional and rare bond: They chose to risk their lives in order to save another human being, whether a stranger or an acquaintance, who was in mortal danger simply because they had been born into a certain people, in a certain place, at a certain time.
Different groupings were involved. I found a record of 16 certificates I presented at an event in Lithuania: Five were awarded to individuals (did their spouses know?), six to couples, and the rest to families with children who all joined together in the secret mission.
To date, Yad Vashem has recognized around 30,000 Righteous Among the Nations. One can only imagine what the Jewish people might look like today had there been more of them. On a personal note, I have often wondered what my life would have been like had my relatives in Hungary encountered such heroes and had not become part of the six million.
Being involved when problems arise
At times, I have asked myself how I would have behaved had I been in the place of those rare individuals. Would I have had the will and the courage to risk myself for another person? And if not, would my conscience have been at peace, or would it have tormented me? Might I have gone on with life as usual, suppressing what was happening to my neighbors, the things being done, in a sense, in my name?
Perhaps I would have found a way to contribute financially to rescue efforts, or perhaps not even that? Can I be sure I would not have joined those perpetrating evil, seeking to advance among them, with or without self-justification? Would I be telling myself that they were also doing good? Or might I have believed that the authorities knew what they were doing, and that their decisions should not be questioned?
I do not know how I would have acted under such circumstances. No one does, until the moment of truth arrives. But history shows that when problems arise, most people do not want to get involved. Only a few stand up against those who have power and abuse it, and thus evil is allowed to grow and injustice to spread.
The writer was Israel’s first ambassador to the Baltic states after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, ambassador to South Africa, and congressional liaison officer at the embassy in Washington. She is a graduate of Israel’s National Defense College.