Historian: Rescuing one person required involvement of even more than ten people

55 years ago, in 1963, the authorities of Israel established the Righteous among the Nations title. Non-Jews who helped Jews during Holocaust can be honoured with the title. So far, more than 25 thousand people have been honoured in this way. The most of the titles, that is 6.5 thousand, were awarded to Poles. As Dr. hab. Patryk Pleskot emphasized on Polish Radio 24, there were a lot more Poles who rescued Jews from Holocaust.

“It is not true that one person helped one Jew. To help one hiding Jew, several or even more than ten people had to be involved. The memoirs of Hanna Krall [a Polish writer of Jewish origin – editorial note], who was also hidden by Poles, remained” – said the historian.

“Hanna Krall wrote as follows: “There was the flat of the Szarkowski family, then the small and poor flat of Ms Podhorska, then a hiding place at Mr Nowak’s, then the elegant flat of Mr and Mrs Łysakowscy, then the Czapski family (...) and Ms Makowa. Then there were even more other flats and other people. A chain of risk, people, and places. I was passed from hands to hands”. Indeed, in order to rescue one person, a whole bunch of people had to be involved. Therefore, the number of the Righteous among the Nations can be multiplied many times” – explained Dr hab. Patryk Pleskot.

Polish Radio 24