New Books: The Righteous: How Poles Saved Jews During the Holocaust

It is richly illustrated with stories of aid in the broad political and social context of Nazi occpuationand the Holocaust perpetrated on Polish soil. The stories described feature those honoured by the Yad Vashem Institute and those not honoured as such.

From the forward by Norman Davies:

Many wartime stories still await their rightful unveiling. The emotional story of heroic Poles saving Jews against all adversities is among them. No nation consists solely of heroes, and Poles are no exception, although they constitute a considerable number. The history of World War II is incomplete without explaining what Żegota was and who were its people – people such as Irena Sendler or the Catholic nuns who took in Jewish children. Simple justice demands appropriately honouring these people, not because they were Poles, but because they behaved as Christians and as sensitive human beings.
It is wrong to think that a name written at Yad Vashem is the ultimate account. The Israeli authorities can memorialise only those whose names have been passed on to them and have undergone stringent verification. We know nothing about very many other people, those who gave shelter to Jewish families, even for only two or three days during moments of the utmost dangers, those whom the Nazis murdered together with their Jewish guests thereby erasing all traces of their heroism, those who fulfilled their duty during the War and later remained silent. And so there is a significant distinction – “Righteous Poles” as recognised by Yad Vashem and other Poles known only to God. 


Grzegorz Górny, Sprawiedliwi. Jak Polacy ratowali Żydów przed Zagładą, foreward by Norman Davies, Rosikon Press, 2013