The BiG Story

Profiles In Courage

Remembering the Righteous Gentiles

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

empo Sugihara put his life on
the line more than 1,600
times. For every transit visa he
issued to Jews fleeing Hitler, Sugihara
defied direct orders from his govern-
ment. But he was not about to let
these men, women and children —
all strangers — die.
Sugihara is one of a handful of
Righteous Gentiles who are honored
along a quiet, tree-lined walk at Yad
Vashem, Israel's museum to the Six
Million. Their names should be
remembered, again and again, for
eternity. Here are a few who risked
their lives to help Jews:

Sempo Sugihara
Sempo Sugihara was Japanese con-
sulate in Kovno,
Lithuania, in
1940. Literally
days before he
was to be sent
home, Sugihara
met with a group
of Polish Jews.
They were flee-
ing Nazi-infested
Europe — but they needed help: an
official signature and exit visas.
Sugihara was ready to help the
Jews leave, but his government told
him three times the answer was no.
Sugihara, nonetheless, wrote the
visas — 1,600 of them, in his own
hand — to Japan. Because of this,
these Jews survived the war and later
resettled in Israel and the United
States.
For years, Sugihara was regarded
with disdain because he had dis-
4 ' obeyed orders. When he returned to
Japan after the war, he was forced to
resign and received no assistance

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with further employment. Finally, in
1992 he was honored in Japan,
where a monument now stands in his
hometown of Yaotsu.

passe, which supposedly offered
Swedish protection for all those
holding them. They were elaborate-
ly designed, which is why the
Germans respected and honored

Jadwiga Suchodolski
Jadwiga Suchodolski lived with her
family outside Warsaw. One evening
in April 1943, a strange man
knocked at the door and pleaded
with the family to help him. His name
was Michael Shaft, who years earlier
had been a neighbor. Though , it
meant certain death were they to be
discovered, the Suchodolskis let
Michael in and cared for him in a
secret pit in their granary.
Michael remained hidden through-
out the war, but soon afterward a
group of Polish partisans entered the
home and ordered he be turned
over. The family refused, and
Michael escaped.
"My family and I did what we did
because we wished to observe the
commandment of 'Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself, - Jadwiga later
said. "I am proud, indeed, to be
counted as a righteous person."

them.
Wallenberg worked without rest as
he issued more and more of these
"passes." And then he disappeared.
Just after the war he was taken away
by the KGB. Though there have been
numerous "sightings" since
Wallenberg's arrest in 1945, no one
knows for certain what happened to
this Righteous Gentile.

Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg, who studied at
the University of Michigan, issued
thousands of false, but impressive
documents, that saved the lives of
Jewish men, women and children.
The Swedish
diplo'mat
arrived in
Budapest in
1944 and
immediately
began issuing
protective
passes," schutz-

Jozef Zwonarz
Jozef Zwonarz was a father of five
when, in 1942, he agreed to over-
see care of Dr. Nathan Wallach, his
wife and daughter. He built a secret
shelter for the family, and told no
one (not even his wife) of their exis-
tence.
Zwonarz often sacrificed his own
meals to feed the Wallach family,
who could in no way repay their
friend. "We had no money with
which to buy food on the black mar-
ket," Wallach would later say. "We
did not give him even one cent."
After the war, Zwonarz offered all
he had left to the Wallachs: "Take
this," he said, handing the family his
watch and a $10 bill. "You'll need it
to start a new life."

Irena Sendler
Irena Sendler belonged to a Polish
underground organization that oper-
ated in Warsaw. She often entered
the ghetto, working under the guise
of containing diseases.
In reality, she came to bring food
and clothing, medicine and money to

those interned inside the terrible
walls. Sendler also smuggled Jewish
children out of the Warsaw ghetto
and into safe homes.
For her efforts, Sendler was arrest-
ed by the gestapo and sentenced to
death. Thanks to Jewish friends, who
bribed a Nazi officer, she managed
to escape.

Oskar
Schindler
The hero of the
Academy Award-
winning film
Schindler's List,
Oskar Schindler
was a smooth-
talking, elegant German-Catholic
businessman. He became close with
several members of the Nazi elite,
then used his position to influence
treatment of Jews in the camps and
save literally thousands destined to
die.
Schindler employed Jews in his
Krakow metalworks factory, where
workers included some of the most
vulnerable members of the Jewish
community, including older adults and
children.

For more information:
Contact the Jewish Foundation for
Christian Rescuers
823 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
(212) 490-2525

Established in 1987, this philan-
thropic organization hosts confer-
ences, documents rescue stories,
grants the Courage to Care Award
and supports 900 rescuer families
with medical supplies and monthly
stipends. ❑

