Four Polish citizens have been posthumously awarded Righteous Among the Nations medals for their efforts in helping Jews during the Second World War amid the Nazi Holocaust.
A ceremony held in the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków on Friday saw the families of Adam Janik, Maria and Wincenty Kwiatkowski and Bronisława Porwit receive distinctions in the presence of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and the Speaker of the Polish lower house of parliament, Marek Kuchciński.
“Today in Kraków we are witnesses to great history, one that holds both a personal and universal significance,” Kuchciński told those gathered at the event. “Back then, each individual effort had a universal dimension.”
The Righteous Among the Nations medal is the highest civil distinction in Israel awarded to Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem since 1963. Over 26,500 civilians have received the honour so far, including 6,700 Poles.
