Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust
Polish Jews were the primary victims of the Nazi Germany-organized Holocaust in Poland. Throughout the German occupation of Poland, Jews were rescued from the Holocaust by Polish people, at risk to their lives and the lives of their families. According to Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, Poles were, by nationality, the most numerous persons identified as rescuing Jews during the Holocaust. By January 2022, 7,232 people in Poland have been recognized by the State of Israel as Righteous among the Nations.
Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust
Rudolf Weigl, Polish Righteous whose vaccines, smuggled into the Lwów and Warsaw Ghettos, saved countless Jewish lives.
The Król family of Polish Righteous west of Nowy Sącz Ghetto hid Jewish friends in the attic for three years. In close proximity, the Germans carried out mass executions of civilians.
The wall of the ghetto in Warsaw, being constructed by Nazi German order in August 1940
History of the Jews in Poland
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy which ended after the Partitions of Poland in the 18th century. During World War II there was a nearly complete genocidal destruction of the Polish Jewish community by Nazi Germany and its collaborators of various nationalities, during the German occupation of Poland between 1939 and 1945, called the Holocaust. Since the fall of communism in Poland, there has been a renewed interest in Jewish culture, featuring an annual Jewish Culture Festival, new study programs at Polish secondary schools and universities, and the opening of Warsaw's Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Monument to the Ghetto Heroes beside the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw
Early-medieval Polish coins with Hebrew inscriptions
Casimir the Great and the Jews, by Wojciech Gerson, 1874
Casimir IV Jagiellon confirmed and extended Jewish charters in the second half of the 15th century