Rescue of Jews in the Holocaust

A number of rescuers helped Jewish people and others to escape from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. Possibly the most well-known among whom was German businessman Oskar Schindler. The article concentrates on famous cases, or people who saved the lives of many potential victims. Since 1963, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Israel, has recognized 24,356 people as Righteous Among the Nations. A commission in Israel, called The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, is organized by Yad Vashem, headed by an Israeli Supreme Court justice, and awards people who rescued Jews the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations.

Holocaust rescuers came from many different countries in the world.

Poland had a large Jewish population, and, according to Norman Davies, more Jews were both killed and rescued in Poland than in any other nation: the rescue figure usually being put at between 100,000–150,000. The memorial at Bełżec extermination camp commemorates 600,000 murdered Jews and 1,500 Poles who tried to save Jews. Thousands in Poland have been honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, constituting the largest national contingent. Martin Gilbert wrote that "Poles who risked their own lives to save the Jews were indeed the exception. But they could be found throughout Poland, in every town and village."

Until the end of Communist domination, much of German-occupied Poland's Holocaust history was hidden behind the veil of the Iron Curtain. During the World War II Nazi occupation, Poland was the only country where any help provided to a person of Jewish faith or origin was punishable by death. Yet 6,532 men and women (more than from any other country in the world) have been recognized as rescuers by Yad Vashem in Israel.

Poland during the Holocaust of World War II was under total enemy control: half of Poland was occupied by the Germans, as the General Government and Reichskomissariat; the other half by the Soviets, along with the territories of today's Belarus and Ukraine. The list of Polish citizens officially recognised as Righteous include 700 names of those who lost their lives while trying to help their Jewish neighbors. There were also groups, such as the Polish Żegota organization, that took drastic and dangerous steps to rescue victims. Witold Pilecki, a member of Armia Krajowa, the Polish Home Army, organized a resistance movement in Auschwitz from 1940, and Jan Karski tried to spread word of the Holocaust.

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