The Claims Conference In Partnership With Yad Vashem Launches
New Social Media Campaign To Honor Righteous Among The Nations,
Non-Jews Who Risked Everything During The Holocaust To Rescue
Jews.
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/
-- Gideon Taylor,
President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against
Germany (Claims Conference), announced today a new social media
campaign in partnership with Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust
Remembrance Center, called #DontBeABystander:
Those Who Risked It All To Save A Life. This
initiative is a Holocaust education campaign that highlights a
lesser-known aspect of the Holocaust – stories of "Righteous Among
the Nations," those brave non-Jews who risked everything,
including their own lives, to save Jews during the
Holocaust.
Gideon Taylor, President of
the Claims Conference: "The Jewish people owe a debt of
gratitude to their Righteous rescuers. For some Jewish families at
their most desperate hour, their saviors were guided by
conscience and moral imperative, even above their own safety. It is
our duty not only to honor the rescuers for their refusal to be
bystanders, but also to share their heroic endeavors as a
counterbalance to humanity's darkness and indifference during the
Holocaust. The Claims Conference is proud to be partnering with Yad
Vashem in this important campaign."
In a series of two-minute videos, the campaign highlights the
heroic actions of non-Jewish individuals from all walks of life,
including the dangers they faced to save Jewish men, women and
children in German-occupied Europe. Included in the law establishing Yad
Vashem that was enacted by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) in 1953
is the official recognition of non-Jews who took great risks,
endangering their lives and often the lives of their families, and
received no reward or compensation for their efforts to help save
Jews during the Holocaust. Over the years the title "Righteous
Among the Nations" has become a most coveted title, bestowed by Yad
Vashem on behalf of the Jewish people. These individuals were rays
of light in one of the darkest chapters in modern history. Their
stories are a source of inspiration in today's fractured world and
will remain so for generations to come.
#DontBeABystander offers a
unique perspective in Holocaust education – highlighting those
individuals who put morality and humanity ahead of personal
preservation. This lens has not been widely explored in the context
of Holocaust education or on social media for a mainstream
audience. As is the case with Holocaust survivors, the Righteous
Among the Nations population is waning, and time is of the essence
to hear their first-hand accounts. [Please visit
DontBeABystander.org to see videos.]
Greg Schneider, Executive Vice
President of the Claims Conference: "Whomsoever saves a
single life, saves an entire universe is inscribed on the
medals awarded by Yad Vashem to Righteous Among the
Nations. Though not literal, the concept is not difficult to
imagine; if a teenager was saved by a Righteous rescuer, we can
look at that child's family tree and see the subsequent generations
with its branches intact – children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. Without these rescuers, refusing to be a
bystander, they acted and saved the lives of Jews, otherwise this
family tree could not exist."
Throughout this new social media campaign, individuals awarded
the title Righteous rescuers from around the world share what
compelled them to save Jewish neighbors, friends, entire families
and even strangers. As they look back more than 75 years; how do
they recall their acts? What did their families think of their
actions? Did they keep in touch with the people they saved? Did
these brave endeavors impact their lives in an ongoing manner?
Would they risk it all again?
Dani Dayan, Yad Vashem
Chairman: "Yad Vashem's mission has always been, and
continues to be, to perpetuate the memory of the six million Jewish
men, women and children murdered by the Nazis and their
collaborators. Yet from its inception, Yad Vashem has also been
dedicated to recognizing the bravery and selflessness of non-Jewish
individuals who stood up in the face of the absolute evil that
swept across much of Europe and
areas of North Africa, and
protected Jews at a time when hostility and indifference prevailed.
This project of the Claims Conference highlights a few of the some
28,000 Righteous Among the Nations recognized so far by Yad Vashem
who are still alive today."
Since 1963, the Claims Conference has been supporting and
honoring those Righteous Among the Nations recognized by Yad Vashem
through a special assistance program stemming from the Jewish value
obligation to show gratitude. The Claims Conference was the first
organization to establish such a program and continues the program
to this day. #DontBeABystander takes this recognition
to the next level, honoring those who risked it all by elevating
their stories, and bringing them to a far wider audience, including
the next generations. An obvious dovetail to the recent
#ItStartedWithWords campaign,
#DontBeABystander shows the impact of those who
choose to take action and not just stand idly by while injustice is
perpetrated.
In 2019, Sidney Zoltak, Holocaust
survivor and a member of the Claims Conference Board of Directors
representing the Canadian Jewish Congress, was in Poland for his sixth March of the
Living trip and gathered with the Polish family that hid his family
for 14 months on their farm. Standing in the field where Sidney and
his family had been hidden underground, never seeing the light of
day, stood three generations of Zoltaks with three generations of
Krynskis, the family that rescued them.
Sidney Zoltak, Holocaust
survivor: "My son and his three children joined me in
Poland, and we walked over the
area where there was once an underground bunker," Sidney recalls.
"There are really no words that can express my gratitude. Were it
not for the bravery, humanity and simple kindness of this very
religious Polish-Catholic family, I wouldn't be here today and
neither would my son and grandchildren and eventually their
grandchildren."
In February 1995, Yad Vashem
recognized Andrzej Sitkowski and his
mother as Righteous Among the Nations for saving the Kosak sisters,
Marion and Hadassah. Even long after the war, Andrzej has kept in
contact with the sisters. The Kosak's referred to the Sitkowski's
in their testimony after the war saying, "There is a uniqueness
about the history of this family in that we formed firm bonds of
friendship which survived the war."
Andrzej
Sitkowski, Righteous Among the Nations: "I
did help to save some people in the war time and that was a very
important part of my life. That in the difficult circumstances we
didn't say 'we want to save Jews,' but it was a coincidence;
and in this coincidence we found ourselves to be
'menschlich' (human). I say to young people not to be
indifferent when they see something wrongdoing and you could help.
Don't forget in any situation that you are a human being and human
beings can do much more than you may expect."
Hadassah Kosak, Holocaust
survivor (saved by Andrzej): "It was the bravery and
heroism of Andrzej Sitkowski and his
family to offer two girls and their mother a shelter in their home
where we survived the Nazi horrors. We were treated as family, and,
to this day, our extended families keep in touch."