Hiding and Righteous Gentiles
Notes

The Holocaust claimed the lives of approximately 6 million Jewish men, women, and children. There were about 1.6 million Jewish children, ranging from infants to teens, living in Europe at the start of World War II. Of these, only about 11 percent survived the war, and mostly by hiding. Some left their homes to seek refuge in other countries. Many parents chose to hide their children in order to save them.
Hiding a child was much less difficult than hiding an adult. Unlike adults, children were not required to carry any forms of identification. In addition, they could easily blend in with the groups of non-Jewish children who became orphans of war.
In most cases, arrangements to hide these children were made through personal contacts. Some non-Jews, motivated by moral concern and good will, risked their lives in order to save the lives of Jewish children. They later became known as “righteous Gentiles.”
Hiding places for Jewish children included boarding schools, and orphanages. These places were often located far from the children’s homes and they had to leave their family and everything they knew. Being sent to these hiding places was a terrifying experience for children — they were made to travel under difficult conditions to unknown destinations. Yet, they were aware that they were in danger, and leaving their families and homes would save their lives. Many kids weren’t even old enough to know what was going on.

Some famous righteous gentiles include…
-Shindler
-Corinne Ten Bun
-Raoul Wallenberg
-Zofia Baniecka
-Gertruda Babilinski
-Alex and Mela Roslan
-Irene Opdyke
-Stefan Raczynski

Over 5,000 righteous gentiles were Polish. If a Jew was caught trying to escape, they would be punished by being put to death and the same punishment would go for the people helping them escape. If a righteous gentile was caught they would also be tortured and humiliated. Without these righteous people to save the lives of people they have never met before, hundreds of thousands of more Jewish people would have been killed.