“We saw a child in grave danger. We knew we had the opportunity to take her and protect her, and it was beyond our feelings or thinking that it would be rejected,” Andrzej Sitkowski recalled when he was 15, and his entire family mobilized for the rescue of two Jewish girls and their mother. This was at the height of World War II, Germany. The Jewish family would have been caught if Andrzej and his family didn’t intervene. They could have been killed if they were discovered by the Nazis if they took them in. “I thought what we did was normal…we didn’t say we wanted to rescue Jews. It was a coincidence. We were merely a coincidence.
Their example, and the examples of many others, should serve as a model for the rest of us. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) is launching #DontBeABystander. This is a joint initiative with Yad Vashem the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Our goal is to highlight people such as Andrzej, who we can learn from while we still have their firsthand accounts.
Over the past 60 years, the title Righteous Among the Nations has been one of the most prestigious titles in modern history. The basic human value of life is at the heart of the term “Righteous”. They recognized this and stood up to defend the right of their Jewish neighbors to live in great danger. They refused to sit by and let others down and took on all the risks necessary to save the Jewish people during the Holocaust. The Righteous Among the Nations, like many other “ordinary people”, did not do anything to stop the Nazis. They joined the Nazis’ cruel and murderous campaigns in many cases willingly, even eagerly. Yad Vashem says they were motivated by political, ideological, or religious convictions. Others, however, were just human beings who care about others. Many times they didn’t plan to rescue others and were completely unprepared for the moment when they had to make such a dangerous and fatalistic decision. They were just ordinary people, and their humanity should be a model for us all.
Over the past 77 year, Holocaust survivors have not only sought justice for the horrors they, their loved ones, suffered, but have also dedicated their lives and lives to telling the story. These survivors offer their testimony as well as moral authority. They urge us all to be vigilant to prevent atrocities from happening again. They do this to remind us that the Holocaust was not inevitable. It happened because, as Prof. Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Laureate, so memorably stated to us: The world knew but kept silent.
Although the Nazi Germany’s death campaign had many collaborators, many more people stood by and watched as six million Jews were displaced, ostracized and stripped of their homes and livelihoods. They were forced into ghettos and enslaved. Professor Wiesel, who survived Auschwitz’s death camp and saw his entire family die in the Holocaust, vowed to never be silent when human beings suffer suffering and humiliation. Silence encourages the tormentor, but not the victim. Sometimes we have to interfere.” “Sometimes we must interfere” when persecuted individuals or groups, “that place must-at that time–become central of the universe.”
Many people have forgotten who Elie Wiesel is, and what he stands for. Recent Claims Conference surveys in the United States, France and Canada on Holocaust awareness have revealed troubling gaps in our knowledge about basic Holocaust facts. Recent surveys have shown that many people are unsure whether or not the Holocaust took place. Perhaps such willful ignorance helps to ease the conscience that might otherwise feel troubled by inaction when faced with modern-day persecution or oppression.
But many Holocaust survivors know firsthand that they are here today–as are their children, grand-children and great-grandchildren–because a Righteous rescuer chose to act upon a troubled conscience and extend a lifesaving hand. Andrzej Sitkowski, along with Helena, was a rescuer who saved many Jews, including Marion and Hadassah Kosak sisters. This bond is still strong between the two families. Rescuers such as the Krynskis were farmers who saved Sidney Zoltak and his family by hiding them underground for 14 months.
Let us remember the Holocaust survivors on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We should listen to them and their rescuers. They have shared their difficult memories with us and, simply, they knew it was important not to be an observer.
We all have to ask ourselves if we will act with kindness, grace, and selflessness when faced with oppression and hatred. We should learn from the brave actions of the Righteous Among the Nations rescuers, who saved innocent lives and allowed generations to thrive because of their courage.
