RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS
The Righteous Among the Nations (RATN) designation is awarded to non-Jewish individuals who risked their lives and the lives of their families to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Rescue took many forms, including hiding Jews in the rescuers’ home or on their property, providing false papers and identities, and smuggling or assisting Jews to escape. The Righteous came from many different countries, religions, and backgrounds.
Despite these desperate times, the Righteous chose to protect Jews at great risk to themselves and their families. When many collaborated with the Nazis or turned a blind eye to the mass deportation and systematic murder of Jews, these individuals, guided by their moral convictions, demonstrated that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary courage.
COMMEMORATION
The medal of the Righteous bears a quote from the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5), “Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe.”
We understand this when we see the families of survivors today as they stand proudly with their children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Now, more than 80 years after the Holocaust, these awards are presented to the descendants of the Righteous Among Nations.
The Righteous Among the Nations designation continues to be awarded worldwide. In Canada, the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem and the Israeli Embassy or Consulate partner to present the medal and a certificate at a special ceremony to the descendants of those who have been posthumously awarded the designation.
RIGHTEOUS IN CANADA
At the CSYV Memorial Site at Earl Bales Park, the Drimmer Family Wall recognizes the Righteous Among Nations with representative names from various countries.
On the Yad Vashem campus in Jerusalem, there are three commemorative sites for the RATN:
The Avenue of the Righteous, a path with trees, which has plaques containing the names of the Righteous and their country of residence during the war
The Garden of the Righteous
The Memorial of the Anonymous Rescuer
More than 26,000 individuals from 51 countries have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.
CSYV encourages Canadian educators to include individual stories of Righteous Among the Nations in their educational programs as they teach this important topic in the classroom. Yad Vashem is issuing an urgent call to Jewish families and communities to recover their names. Unless we complete this vital mission soon, some of them may be lost to us forever. This is a race against time, before those who remember them are no longer with us.
