“They Risked Their Lives ...” Exhibition Opens in Madrid

The exhibition was opened by the Polish Ambassador to Spain, Mr Tomasz Arabski. Guest of honor at the event was Janina Rekłajtis, a former prisoner in Auschwitz.

The exhibition was prepared as part of Museum POLIN’s “The Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” project, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Spanish-language version was prepared with the cooperation of the Polish Institute in Madrid.

The exhibition presentes the stories of Poles who, at the risk of their own lives and the lives of their families, provided help to persecuted Jews – which acrried the death penalty. After the War, some of the rescuers were honoured by the State of Israel with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

The fate of the rescuers and those rescued is told in the context of an occupied Poland. The exhibition explains the circumstances, level of aid provided and what motivated the Righteous to do what they did.

To date, the exhibition has been translated into five languages and has gone on show in Paris, Essen, Tallin, Vilnius, Warsaw, Szczecin and Toruoraz Torun. It will remain on display at the Centro Sefarad-Israel in Madrid until the end of February.