The Righteous Among the Nations High School
The press spokesman of the university Tomasz Boruszczak informed that the Yad Vashem Institute has accepted the project.
The director of the high school Tomasz Kłos has also received from Yad Vashem a special certificate confirming the Institute’s decision. As a result, the school from Łódź was granted the right to use the name of the title “Righteous Among the Nations” presented by the Yad Vashem Institute.
The official ceremony of naming the school will be held on September 1st, 2011. It will take place in the new seat of the school: in a renovated factory building at 163 Pomorska Street.
The high school of the University of Łódź will also participate in the Polish-Israeli program of youth exchange. The cooperation with schools from the Hefer Valley will soon be established. The exchange will be organized by the Ministry of National Education and the Israeli Council of Youth Exchange.
“The idea of naming the school after the Righteous is connected with the initiative of commemorating the numerous Poles, including the inhabitants of Łódź, who selflessly helped Jews during the Second World War, risking their own lives” – reminds Tomasz Kłos.
At the beginning of 2010 students and teachers presented to the Ambassador of Israel to Poland Zvi Rav-Ner a proposal of naming the school after the Righteous Among the Nations. The school community has asked the ambassador for his help with this initiative.
The University of Łódź High School was founded in 2009. Before the war the building located at 96 Pomorska Street was housing an orphanage for Jewish girls. During the occupation they were all deported to the Łódź ghetto.
Last year in the Park of the Rescued in Łódź – as part of the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto by the Germans – took place the unveiling of the first Monument to Poles Saving Jews during the Second World War in Poland.
The monument presents the Polish eagle spreading its wings and a labyrinth of walls in the shape of the Star of David. It will also present plaques with the names of all Poles honored with the title “Righteous Among the Nations”.
