THE HOLOCAUST AND THE UNITED NATIONS OUTREACH PROGRAMME

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The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
uncontaminated, he was outside this world of negation. Thanks
to Lorenzo, I managed not to forget that I myself was a man. 4
Lorenzo Perrone and thousands of others on Yad Vashem’s roster of
Righteous Among the Nations acted according to the dictum of that
ancient Jewish sage, Hillel: “If I am only for myself, then what is my
merit?” A later Talmudic passage also affirms that, “Whosoever saves
one life is as though he had saved an entire world.” That is a lesson
worth remembering, for the sake of our future, and a more morally
upright humanity.
(1) This programme was established to honour the non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during
the Holocaust.
(2)
SS: This paramilitary elite group of the Nazi party, known as “Shutzstaffel” in
German, was responsible for implementing the security and population policies of
the Third Reich, among other duties.
(3)
(4)
Righteous Among the Nations Department, Yad Vashem, file: Perrone Lorenzo, 02/8157.
Primo Levi, If This Is A Man (New York: Orion Press, 1959), page 142.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
RESCUE DURING THE HOLOCAUST: The Courage to Care
1. Who are the “Righteous Among the Nations”?
2. Did you know about the Righteous Among the Nations
Programme before reading the paper by Mordecai Paldiel?
What message does this programme send to students?
3. Do you know if anybody from your country has been awarded
the title Righteous Among the Nations? If yes, what are
their stories?
4. What values do you think the rescuers demonstrated?
Why do you think they were willing to risk their lives to help
others?
5. To what extent is individual responsibility essential in
combating genocide?