From the British prisoners who hid an escaping Jewish teenager from concentration camp guards to the spy who forged thousands of UK passports for Jews escaping Nazi Germany, they acted on their instincts and without authority.
But now 27 Britons who performed extraordinary acts of bravery have been officially recognised by the Prime Minister as “Heroes of the Holocaust.”
Gordon Brown presented a solid silver medallion inscribed with the words “In the Service of Humanity” in the names of the men and women, many of whom have now died, “whose selfless actions preserved life in the face of persecution”.
Sir Nicolas Winton, 100, and Denis Avey, 91, accepted the honour in person at a reception in Downing Street yesterday.
Sir Nicholas organised the rescue of 669 mainly Jewish children by train from Prague in 1939.
Mr Avey, who smuggled food and cigarettes to Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz during his incarceration in the adjacent prisoner of war camp, said he was delighted to accept the award “with humility.”
“We were faced with this bestiality every day and we knew exactly what was happening in there, and I suppose being an Englishman I recognised this and wanted to do something about it,” he said.
The soldier arranged to swap one night at a time with Jewish inmates from the nearby concentration camp, exchanging his uniform for the filthy, striped garments of the Jewish prisoners to allow them to sneak into his military prison for a hot meal and a good night’s sleep.
The Prime Minister announced the creation of the award on a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz last year.
“These individuals are true British heroes and a source of national pride for all of us. They were shining beacons of hope in the midst of terrible evil because they were prepared to take a stand against prejudice, hatred and intolerance,” he said yesterday.
“We pay tribute to them for the inspiration they provide now and for future generations to come.”
Among those honoured posthumously yesterday were Princess Alice of Greece, the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh, who sheltered Jewish women and orphans in the Greek royal palace during the Nazi occupation.
Ida and Louise Cook, two sisters who smuggled British visas to Jews while attending opera recitals in Europe, are also recognised, along with Major Frank Foley, the British spy who helped up to 10,000 Jews escape Germany before the war by issuing fake visas at great personal risk.
A group of British prisoners of war who saved the life of Hannah Sarah Rigler, a 15-year-old Jewish girl who escaped from the death march in which her mother and sister later perished, were all awarded the posthumous medal.
Stan Wells, Alan Edwards, George Hammond, Roger Letchford, Tommy Noble, John Buckley, Bill Scruton, Bert Hambling, Bill Keeble and Willy Fisher found Miss Rigler hiding in a barn near Danzig where they were performing farm labour in 1945.
They wrapped her in an old army coat, hid her in a hay loft and took it in turns to bring her food, bathe her and nurse her back to health. The prisoners arranged for the teenager to be cared for by local women on the eve of their evacuation into Germany. They were recognised by Yad Varshem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial authority, as Righteous Among the Nations in 1988.
{The Telegraph/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}
Kol hakavod to the British government for recognising the mesiras nefesh of these brave goyim who risked their lives for Jewish people they hardly knew.
Yes, I know that this recognition has come 65 years too late, and that many of those valiant Gentiles are now niftarim, but – as the Brits say – “better late than never.