The Righteous Among the Nations and the Life Saving Cross – Awards Honouring the Humanity and Courage of Those Who Risked Their Lives

During the Nazi occupation, people who rescued Jews stood out for their strong moral values and determination. To honour those who risked their lives, the State of Israel confers the distinguished title of Righteous Among the Nations. This is not only an official recognition of the merits of rescuers of Jews but also a profound symbol of their humanity. Meanwhile, in Lithuania, rescuers of Jews are awarded the Life Saving Cross. Museologist Danutė Selčinskaja discussed the significance of these awards and their differences in an interview on 15 March during the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews event held at Vilnius University (VU).

Save one life – save the entire world

Danutė Selčinskaja, a researcher at the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History and long-time director of the Project for Commemoration of Lithuanian Rescuers of Jews, explained that since 1963, a public commission in Jerusalem has been granting the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations to those who saved Jews during the Holocaust. This commission operates under Yad Vashem (meaning ‘a memorial and a name’ in Hebrew) – the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. According to the museologist, this title is awarded to individuals who risked their own lives, and those of their loved ones, to rescue Jews persecuted during the Holocaust who were facing the threat of extermination.

“A person recognised as Righteous Among the Nations receives an honorary certificate and a medal engraved with the words: Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe. If the recipient is no longer alive, the award is presented to their closest relatives. The names of the Righteous Among the Nations are also inscribed on the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Initially, Yad Vashem was entrusted with commemorating six million Jewish victims of the Nazis and their collaborators, developing memorial projects, and collecting and publishing testimonies from Holocaust survivors. In parallel, since 1963, a large-scale initiative has been launched across Europe to recognise and honour those who rescued Jews by granting them the title of Righteous Among the Nations,” said Danutė Selčinskaja.

She emphasised that this award is a tribute from the State of Israel and its citizens to those who risked everything to save Jews in a time of overwhelming hatred and rampant antisemitism: “Death threats loomed over Jewish rescuers around every corner; everyone saw, heard, and knew it. Rescuing Jews required not only a lot of courage but also intelligence, patience, and both physical and psychological strength, as it was impossible to predict how long the Jewish people would need to remain in hiding. Rescuers often had to share their last piece of bread.”

For a rescuer to be recognised as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the request had to be submitted by the person they had saved. This procedure has remained in place since the project was launched in 1963.

However, now that most Holocaust witnesses are no longer among us, the researcher explained that Yad Vashem sometimes relies on recorded video testimonies to nominate a person for the title of Righteous Among the Nations. For instance, the third President of Lithuania, Kazys Grinius, and his wife Kristina were recognised as Righteous Among the Nations in 2015 based on the testimony of Dmitrij Gelpern, one of the leaders of the anti-fascist resistance in the Kovno Ghetto. His testimony is preserved in the Spielberg Foundation’s video archives.

The Life Saving Cross – a Lithuanian award for rescuers of Jews

By decree of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Life Saving Cross is awarded to individuals who, despite facing life-threatening danger, put their own safety at risk to rescue others. This award is granted not only to rescuers of Jews but also to individuals who have saved people from drowning or fires. Nevertheless, the majority of the recipients of the Life Saving Cross are Lithuanian citizens who endangered their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

Since 1992, the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History has been responsible for submitting nominations and presenting rescuers of Jews for this award. Between 1992 and 2024, 1,693 Lithuanian rescuers of Jews have received the Life Saving Cross. Many of those recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem have also been honoured with the Lithuanian Life Saving Cross. The museum’s virtual exhibition (www.rescuedchild.lt) provides information on all rescuers who have been recognised both in Israel and Lithuania,” said Danutė Selčinskaja.

“Some rescuers paid the ultimate price for their heroic actions. While there is limited data on the rescuers who were persecuted and executed by the Nazis in occupied Lithuania, the available information is also documented on the www.rescuedchild.lt website, in the ‘Rescuers of Jews’ section, under the subsection ‘Prison and Death for Help’, where we can see that many of those who were killed have been posthumously honoured with the Life Saving Cross.

Since its re-establishment in 1989, the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History has been collecting the most important information on the rescue of Jews in Lithuania, including testimonies from both rescuers and survivors, as well as their photographs. The materials gathered by the museum continue to be invaluable for researching the stories of the saved Jews and for nominating their rescuers for the Life Saving Cross. Although it is very challenging to verify and clarify the data when most survivors have already passed away, we are still continuing this work.”

Prominent Lithuanians and VU community members included in the List of Righteous Among the Nations

According to the researcher, before Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, a total of 156 Lithuanian citizens were recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem between 1963 and 1990. While Lithuania was behind the Iron Curtain, the majority of those seeking recognition for their rescuers were Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Israel. However, after the restoration of the country’s independence, those living in Lithuania also started submitting their applications to Yad Vashem. Therefore, to date, as many as 925 Lithuanian citizens have already been recognised as Righteous Among the Nations.

“Among them are notable figures such as Steponas Kairys, a signatory of the Act of Independence of Lithuania of 16 February 1918, and his wife Ona Kairienė; opera singer Kipras Petrauskas and his wife, actress Elena Žalinkevičaitė-Petrauskienė; writer Sofija Čiurlionienė, her daughter Danutė Zubovienė, and Danutė’s husband, Vladimir Zubovas; educator and publicist Stefanija Ladigienė; journalist Sofija Binkienė, her husband, poet Kazys Binkis, and their children Lilijana, Irena, Eleonora, and Gerardas; violinist and music educator Vladas Varčikas, who was also the Director of Kaunas State Musical Theatre; Pediatrician and VU lecturer Petras Baublys and his brother Sergijus; Priest of the Holy Trinity Church in Kaunas, Bronislovas Paukštys; one of Lithuania’s first professional theatre actresses, Stanislava Venclauskienė, and her daughters Danutė and Gražbylė; prominent public figure Jackus Sondeckis and his wife Rozalija; priest Juozas Stakauskas, who, together with Vladas Žemaitis, established a hiding place in the former Benedictine monastery at Šv. Ignoto g. 5 in Vilnius, saving 12 Jews,” listed museologist Danutė Selčinskaja.

Among the list of rescuers recognised as Righteous Among the Nations are the names of those who had studied or worked at Vilnius University. One of them is the poet and Nobel Prize Laureate Czesław Miłosz, who, along with his brother Andrzej, was awarded in 1989. During the war, Czesław Miłosz lived in Warsaw, where he and his brother helped rescue the Tross couple, who had been brought from Vilnius. He also participated in the Polish resistance movement in Warsaw.

“In 1974, a nun called Marija Mikulska was also recognised as a Righteous Among the Nations for rescuing Samuel Bak, who went on to become a famous artist; before the war, Mikulska studied at the Faculty of Humanities at Stephen Báthory University in Vilnius. Likewise, Jadwiga Dudziec, who had studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the same university, and Professor Henrikas Jonaitis, who had worked at the Vilnius University Faculty of Physics from 1944 and was recognised for rescuing Maša Rolnikaitė, the author of the diary ‘I Must Tell’ (TURIU papasakoti), were also honoured. The other recipients were Petras Baublys, a paediatrician who taught at VU from 1944 and became a legendary rescuer of Jewish children from the Kovno Ghetto, as well as the esteemed philosophy professor at Stefan Báthory University, Tadeusz Czeżowski, who, along with his wife Antonina and daughter Teresa, was recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1963 for saving Jews from the Vilna Ghetto. The Czeżowski family became the first Polish citizens to be recognised by Israel for their efforts in rescuing Jews,” noted Danutė Selčinskaja.

On 15 March 1966, the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations was awarded to VU librarian Ona Šimaitė. Under the guise of handling library affairs, Ona Šimaitė would enter the Vilna Ghetto to deliver essential supplies to the imprisoned Jews; while leaving, she would smuggle out valuable archival materials: documents, manuscripts, and rare books. On 28 April 1944, Ona Šimaitė was arrested at her workplace, the university library, and sentenced to death by the German occupation authorities. However, thanks to funds collected by VU professors and other staff members, officials were bribed, and her death sentence was commuted to deportation to a concentration camp. Initially, Ona Šimaitė was sent to Dachau and later transferred to a concentration camp in Nazi-occupied France. Gravely ill, she was liberated by the Allied forces on 10 September 1944. Fearing possible repressions under the Stalinist regime, Ona Šimaitė did not return to Lithuania – instead, she remained in France and settled in Paris. She was the first Lithuanian recognised by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations in 1966. In 2002, she was posthumously awarded the Life Saving Cross.

The decision by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania to designate 15 March as the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews was, therefore, no coincidence. For the third year in a row, this commemoration has honoured the courageous Lithuanians who risked their own and their loved ones’ freedom and lives to save Jews during the Nazi occupation.