A person can be considered for the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" when the data on hand based on survivor testimony or other documentation, clearly demonstrates that a non-Jewish person risked his or her life, freedom, and safety, in order to rescue one or several Jews from the threat of death or deportation without exacting monetary compensation or other rewards. This applies equally to rescuers who have since passed away.
In order to nominate a person for the title of Righteous or to inform us about a rescue event, please send the following documentation to the Department of the Righteous:
1. Signed and notarized testimonies by survivor and other witnesses of the rescue attempt. Testimonies should include all known personal data on rescuers and survivors, a detailed account of the rescue attempt (how the contact with the rescuer was made; the form of rescue; places and dates of rescue; what arrangements or agreements were made between rescuers and survivors; how did the danger to the rescuers manifest itself; any other details that may shed light on the nature of rescue.) Testimonies can be written in Hebrew or any European language.
For guidelines for testimony click on one of the icons below:
English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Hebrew.
2. Any documents that can authenticate the rescue attempt and the survivors' fate: official documents from the Holocaust time; letters or diaries; photographs of survivors and of rescuers, post-war correspondence between survivors and their families and rescuers and their families, post-war memoirs or testimonies by survivors; testimony of other people who may have known about the rescue (neighbors, other survivors, etc.); any other documents that may shed light on the act of rescue and the relationship between rescuers and rescued.
Testimonies and accompanying documentation will be preserved in Yad Vashem's archives for perpetuity and serve the purposes of research, education and commemoration. Yad Vashem is committed to pursuing the Righteous Among the Nations Program for as long as petitions for this title are received and are supported by solid evidence that meets the criteria.
