Notes

• See also gentile.

  "[Righteous gentiles'] heroism included hiding Jews in their homes, smuggling food to them, forging passports, and helping in other ways. The Hebrew term is hasidei ummot ha-olam (among the righteous of the nations of the world) and dates back to the Talmud. The term was used to describe Noah, a righteous man whom God chose to build an ark and save humanity. Perhaps the most famous Righteous Gentile in modern times is Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who worked in Budapest in 1944. He saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews by granting them Swedish citizenship; he was arrested and sent to a Siberian prison, and never seen again. The heroism of another Righteous Gentile, Oskar Schindler, is dramatized in Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List. Denmark is considered a nation of Righteous Gentiles for its largely successful efforts to save the country’s Jews during World War II. At the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, there is a special grove of trees in tribute to Righteous Gentiles." (JPS)