Twelve more Slovaks awarded Righteous Among the Nations – The Slovak Spectator

Six stories of helping Jews during WWII help us to pause and ask ourselves if we would be so willing.

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Saving one life saves the entire world. A Talmud quote opens the celebration of sympathy shown towards Jewish people during times of hardship in World War II.

Israel and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem award non-Jews with the Righteous Among the Nations title, carrying the highest honour.

Awardees risked their own safety and lives for others by hiding them or helping them escape from the totalitarian regime, without expecting compensation or rewards as counter service. This year, 12 brave Slovaks receive the award Righteous Among the Nations: Antnia Nikodemov, Anton and Oga Bal, Oliver Rcz, Jn and Anna Makny, Pavel Petroch, Jn and Mria Bukov, Jozef Fekia, and Jn and Mria Spevk. Their names will be added to the Wall of Honour in the Yad Vashem garden.

"We have immense respect for their bravery and sense for humanity, and when reading these six stories, we ask ourselves how we would have acted under the same circumstances," Israeli Ambassador Eitan Levon said during the ceremony.

The stories of non-Jews standing by Jewish people during the war around the International Holocaust Memorial Day are traditionally remembered in January. This year, after a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, the ceremony took place on September 5 instead.

Here are their full stories:

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Twelve more Slovaks awarded Righteous Among the Nations - The Slovak Spectator