Remembering the rescuers was included in Yad Vashem’s mission from the very beginning. Mordechai Shenhabi, who drew the first plans for the commemoration of the murdered Jews of Europe, used the term Khassidei Umot HaOlam [the Righteous Among the Nations] to describe the non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust, and proposed the creation of “a list of Righteous Among the Nations who saved souls or belongings of communities" as one of Yad Vashem's tasks in the detailed program that he presented to the Yishuv leadership in 1945.
When, in 1953, Yad Vashem was formally created by a law of the Knesset, paying tribute to “the Righteous Among the Nations who risked themselves to save Jews" during the Holocaust was included in the Remembrance Authority’s mission.
In 1955 Rachel Auerbach, a Holocaust survivor from Warsaw, who was in charge of gathering survivor testimonies at Yad Vashem, suggested that Yad Vashem should plant trees in the Righteous' honor.
Following the capture of Adolf Eichmann, Yad Vashem's Chairman, Arieh Kubovy, reported that he was receiving many requests, asking Yad Vashem to show the world "that the Jewish people was not only interested in bringing the perpetrators to justice, but also wished to pay tribute to the righteous persons." Consequently, on May 1, 1962, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Avenue of the Righteous was dedicated at Yad Vashem, and the first trees were planted along its path.
Excerpts from Requests to Honor Rescuers
Letter of Julian Aleksandrowicz (who was saved by Alesksander Roslan) to Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, 10 November 1960:
"I propose that especially now, as we approach the opening of the Eichmann trial, the Israeli government – the most fitting institution – should launch a campaign to honor those who risked their lives to save Jews during the German occupation... The purpose would be to show youth worldwide… that the main goal of mankind is the help offered by strong persons to those who are weaker…. We know that the future of the world depends on the wisdom of co-existence and on the values we will instill in the young generations…”
The dedication of the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations marked the establishment of a unique program: the unprecedented attempt by victims to single out, within the nations of perpetrators, collaborators and bystanders, persons who bucked the general trend and protected Jews from death and deportation.
The program therefore commemorates not only the rescuers’ courage and humanity, but also constitutes a testament to the resilience of the survivors who, despite having come face to face with the most extreme manifestation of evil, did not sink into bitterness and revenge. In a world where violence more often than not only breeds more violence, this affirmation of the best of humanity is a unique and remarkable phenomenon. And it was the survivors who became a driving force behind the program.
