Honoring the forgotten heroes of the Holocaust

The United States Congress passed a bill to honor dozens of diplomats for their efforts to save Jews during World War II.

During the current session of Congress, a bill was unanimously passed in both chambers called the Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust Congressional Gold Medal Act. The Act was introduced to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to U.S. and foreign diplomats for their bravery and heroism in aiding Jews fleeing Nazi persecution during World War II. This medal is one of the highest civilian honors bestowed by the United States Congress.

On Sept. 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis began their invasion of Europe, which started World War II and threw the world into chaos. The Nazi plan of mass murder of the Jewish population was in full motion. As battles were being fought between countries, Jews were being rounded up and sent to concentration camps throughout Europe. This process began a mass exodus of people out of Europe, especially those in the Jewish community.

During the war, members of the Jewish community used every tool and means at their disposal to flee Nazi tyranny. Thousands tried to flee on trains or boats to escape from Europe.

While the armies of countries were fighting each other, a handful of diplomats, from around the world, stepped forward and took heroic actions to save Jews fleeing Europe. This was an incredibly dangerous process. If the Nazis discovered the actions of these diplomats they would be killed, as a few of them were. Also, while worrying about the Nazis, diplomats had to worry about their careers and livelihoods back home. Many of them had strict orders from their home countries to not aid the Jewish population in any way.

These diplomats used every means at their disposal to help Jews fleeing persecution. One of the most powerful tools the diplomats had to use was the issuing of passports and travel visas contrary to the instruction of the governments of the diplomats. This process alone is responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of Jewish families in Europe. This was not the only tool used as many of the diplomats were connected with the local populations and were great communicators for Jews trying to travel underground. They were able set up safehouses and getaways to hide Jews and especially Jewish children from Nazi authorities. In the most dangerous of times, several of these diplomats confronted the Nazis directly on behalf of the Jews and personally put themselves in grave danger.

Every diplomat knew the dangers and knew what they were up against, and still pushed forward to save those in the most danger.

On Dec. 12, 2024, President Biden signed the Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust Congressional Medal Act into law. This Congressional Gold Medal helps remind humanity that when the diplomats were faced with terrible crises, they went beyond the fold, including risking their careers and the lives of themselves and their families, to engage in this humanitarian mission.

The Act specifically honors posthumously the following diplomats:

Per Anger (Sweden), Jose Maria Barreto Bustíos (Peru), Lars Berg (Sweden), Philippe Bernardini (Vatican/Italy), Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV (United States), Friedrich Born (Switzerland), Gilberto Bosques Saldivar (Mexico), Carlos de Liz-Texeira Branquinho (Portugal), Samuel del Campo (Chile), Aracy de Carvalho Guimarães Rosa (Brazil), Jose Arturo Castellanos Contreras (El Salvador), Carl Ivan Danielsson (Sweden), Luis Martins de Souza Dantas (Brazil), Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz (Germany), Harald Feller (Switzerland), Francis (Frank) Foley (United Kingdom), Jean-Edouard Friedrich (Switzerland), Carlos Almeida Afonseca de Sampaio Garrido (Portugal), Raymond Herman Geist (United States), Feng-Shan Ho (Republic of China), Constantin Karadja (Romania), Alexander Kasser (Sandor Kasza) (Sweden), Elow Kihlgren (Sweden), Joseph Willem (Joop) Kolkman (Netherlands), Julius Kuhl (Poland), Aleksander Łados (Poland), Valdemar Langlet (Sweden), Charles (Carl) Lutz (Switzerland), George Mandel-Mantello (El Salvador), Florian Manoliu (Romania), Manuel Antonio Muñoz Borrero (Ecuador), Salomon Jacob (Sally) Noach (Netherlands), Giorgio (Jorge) Perlasca (Spain/Italy), Ernst Prodolliet (Switzerland), Eduardo Propper de Callejon (Spain), Franjo Puncuch (Yugoslavia/Slovenia), Konstanty Rokicki (Poland), Sebastian de Romero Radigales (Spain), Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (Vatican/Italy), Angelo Rotta (Vatican/Italy), Albert Emile Routier (Turkey/France), Jose Ruiz Santaella (Spain), Stefan Ryniewicz (Poland), Angel Sanz-Briz (Spain), Abdol-Hossein Sardari (Iran), Henryk Slawik (Poland), Robert Smallbones (United Kingdom), Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portugal), Jan Spisiak (Slovakia), Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara (Japan), Ireanaeus Typaldos (Spain), Alexander (Sandor) Ujvary (Vatican/Hungary), Selahattin Ulkumen (Turkey), Gennaro Verolino (Vatican/Italy), Vladimir Vochoc (Czech Republic), Ernst Vonrufs (Switzerland), Raoul Wallenberg (Sweden), Guelfo Zamboni (Italy), Peter Zurcher (Switzerland), and Jan Zwartendijk (Netherlands).

Gold medals will be presented collectively to the eldest next of kin of each diplomat, with the medal then being given to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for display and educational purposes.

The diplomats’ heroic actions in the face of personal danger provide a poignant reminder of the human capacity for good in times of evil.