What Is The Medal Of The Righteous Essay

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“Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe,” is the quote that is engraved on every heroic medal handed out by an organization called the Yad Vashem. But this is not just any ordinary medal; it is called The Medal of the Righteous. The Medal of the Righteous is a medal handed out by Yad Vashem in Israel to the courageous people who put their lives on the line to save a Jewish person or at least help them, during the Holocaust. There have been a total of 25,271 medals awarded. But why were these rescuers jeopardize their own safety? All of these Righteous helped the Jewish for a number of reasons: they became aware of the dangerous situation for the Jews, they loved and/or respected the Jews, or they were called by their profession …show more content…

In Amsterdam, she witnessed Jews being drowned. They would drive them into rivers. Theresa said: “I saw with my own two eyes, one hundred and twenty Jews killed.” Another incident was that one day she was going to this field, and what she found was very tragic; she saw Jews basically forced to stand in a field and allow themselves to be shot. What made her want to help is the fact that Jewish mothers cried for their babies, and she just thought of what it would be like because she had children of her own. Eva Fogelman describes, “Weerstra believed this preposterous account readily enough. She had witnessed Nazi inhumanity. She was aware.” …show more content…

Her interest, or love for Jewish people started from the day she was born and carried on all throughout her life. Stefania was a very religious person. Eva Fogelman inputs, “She committed her soul to God’s care, and, to her way of thinking” (186). She in fact, believed god responded with miracles. Her religious ways were not the main focus as to why she was so motivated though. What caused this motivation was a guy that she had felt the feeling of compassion toward. This guy is better known as the owners son from the grocery store where she had worked. Overall, just the feelings she had towards the one Jewish guy helped her in her decision to help Jews. She ended up saving thirteen

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