New York’s Museum honors those who helped to save Jews from the Holocaust. Among them more than 6,000 Poles

The Museum – a Living Memorial to the Holocaust – has devoted a specially designed room, where one entire wall was covered with a glass panel, with inscription in gold letters: “Dedicated to those of other faiths who risked – and often gave – their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.”

New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage held a ceremony on Thursday, March 6, dedicated to those who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust. “We have dedicated this prestigious place in our building, designed by New York architect Tony Spagnola, opposite the entrance to our core exhibition,” said David Marwell, director of the Museum. The Museum aims to show the commemorative wall to every school group, every visitor, and to educate them that many representatives of other faiths saved Jews, often at the cost of their own life. Dedicating a separate space within the premises of the museum Museum is a tribute and a display of empathy to those who risked their lives to save others during cruel times of World War II.

The ceremony was attended by the Governor of the State of New York Andrew M. Cuomo, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York Edward Michael Egan, representatives of the Protestant Church, sponsors of the Museum – Robert M. Morgenhau and Peter S. Kalikow – Consul Generals of Poland, Germany and Italy (Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, Busso von Alvensleben, and Natalia Quintavalle, respectively), as well as journalists and American media figures.

In his speech, Cardinal Dolan recalled that since the opening of the Museum in 1997, the institution was visited by more than 22,000 teachers from Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York. “Since the times of Archbishop John O’Connor, we have been cooperating with the Archdiocese – the trend that continued with his successor, Archbishop Egan, and now Cardinal Dolan. Through our partnership we have displayed in the Museum an exhibition ‘Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People: blessing to one another,’ prepared by the Jesuit Xavier University in Cincinnati,” said director David Marwell.

Last year, a similar initiative was put forward by a well-known New York philanthropist, born in Częstochowa and rescued from the Holocaust, Zygmunt Rolat. He is the initiator of an idea to erect a monument titled "To our saviours - the saved" which is to be raised in front of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

Among approximately 25,000 Righteous Among the Nations decorated by Yad Vashem, there are more than 6,000 Poles, which constitutes more than 25% of all honored. Late President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński honored the Righteous with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, one of Poland’s highest Orders.