Collective tribute to the “Righteous” of Europe
By Francis ROSENSTIEL
“The Righteous
among the Nations” (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם,
Hasidei Ummot ha-Olam) is a term from
the Talmud traditionally used in Judaism. In
1953, at the same time as it established the Yad Vashem Memorial in
Jerusalem to the victims of the Holocaust, the Knesset decided to honour
“the Righteous among the Nations” who had risked their own lives to save
Jews. The honour is awarded by Yad Vashem on behalf of the State of
Israel. As of 1 January
2007, 21 758 “Righteous among the
Nations” from some 41 countries had been honoured.
At the
beginning of 2007, Francis Rosenstiel put forward an idea which, if it came
to fruition, would do justice to the founding values of the Europe of
human rights and, in so doing, the Council of Europe itself. To ensure
strong and united European symbolism, it was proposed that France
and Germany
should play a prominent part in launching the initiative, which has already
met with a favourable response from the French President.
Francis Rosenstiel
"Resistance"
is not only history!
* Francis Rosenstiel is an ambassador of goodwill of the Council of
Europe and President-founder of the Forum for democratic Europe
Written Declaration n° 392
(Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)
