Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
Honoring Righteous Gentiles
Adopted by the CCAR at the 96th Annual Convention of
the Central Conference of American Rabbis
1985
Forty years after the armistice, it is our concern that future generations learn and
take courage from those who inspire us still. We still cannot forget the trauma that
is associated with World War Il. Millions of soldiers and civilians lost their lives,
were wounded and maimed as the conflict emerged out of the core of Europe to rage
east and west; the cities, the countryside, the economy were devastated. Forty years
after the fact, a new generation has grown to responsible maturity.
As Jews, we remember the war years with added hurt. Six million of our own, including
one and a half million children, experienced death al kiddush haShem
. These figures are not usually added to the total of destroyed human beings who suffered
from 1939 to 1945. We suffered then and died then, alone. The world turned a deaf
ear and projected a silent voice so as to cover their embarrassment as the ideals
and themes of Christian faith became subservient to the nationalist fervor of governments
and to man’s depravity.
But there were instances, although too rare, where the image of God in human beings
stood outside the realm of the ordinary, to speak with dignity and courage. We recall
the actions of the Gentiles who, instead of suffering Jews, saw the frail and beaten
human being; the righteous Gentiles stooped to pick up the fallen, fed the hungry,
clothed the naked, and with their own bodies and resourcefulness of spirit, protected
those of Jewish faith who were in need. We acknowledge their heroism from the Dock
Strikers’ action in Holland to the courage of the King of Denmark and his citizens, to
the individual actions of Raoul Wallenberg.
Therefore be it resolved
that we express our gratitude to those Christian neighbors and friends who alone
knew the terror in their hearts but who braved the duty of humanity’s responsibility
to one another.
Be it further resolved
that these “Righteous Gentiles” have earned their places in the specially designed
garden at Yad vaShem
in Jerusalem; they have inscribed their deeds in our hearts and in the annals of
history.