Français
Español
English
Portuguese
Researchers found that this trend, developing over two decades and intensifying in the past year, is reshaping how remembrance is presented to the public.
By Shula Rosen
A growing number of Holocaust memorials worldwide are shifting their focus toward the Righteous Among the Nations, a development Tel Aviv University scholars say carries educational value but also historical risk if not properly framed.
A new 104-page report released Tuesday by the university’s Center for the Study of European Jewry, titled “For a Noble Cause,” documents how museums and exhibitions across several countries increasingly center on non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust.
Researchers found that this trend, developing over two decades and intensifying in the past year, is reshaping how remembrance is presented to the public.
Examples span multiple continents. In Japan, the country’s two primary Holocaust museums emphasize the actions of diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who issued transit visas that enabled hundreds of Jews to escape.
Latvia’s main Holocaust museum highlights Janis Lipke, who hid Jews in a bunker beneath his home. In the Czech Republic, a Museum of Survivors opened in May 2025 at the site of Oskar Schindler’s factory, combining his story with survivor testimonies.
Additional exhibits in Tennessee, Bulgaria, China, and the United Arab Emirates follow a similar pattern. A university exhibition in Tennessee focuses on American prisoner of war Roddie Edmonds, who defied Nazi orders to identify Jewish soldiers.
Shanghai’s Jewish Refugees Museum presents the story of Chinese diplomat Feng Shan Ho, while Bulgaria has opened the restored home of Dimitar Peshev, who worked to prevent the deportation of 48,000 Jews in 1943.
Prof. Uriya Shavit, who heads the research center, said the attention given to rescuers can serve as a lesson in human courage when properly contextualized, but warned that these individuals were rare exceptions during the Holocaust.
Dr. Karl Junker, the report’s author, cautioned that educators may gravitate toward stories of goodness because they are easier to teach, yet doing so without grounding students in the history of antisemitism, Nazism and mass murder risks distorting historical understanding.
The report recommends that Israel’s education system dedicate classroom time before Holocaust Remembrance Day to learning about one Righteous Among the Nations as an expression of gratitude and moral reflection.
It also examines France’s decision this year to designate July 12, the date of Alfred Dreyfus’ exoneration in 1906, as a national day marking justice over antisemitism, noting that the affair still resonates in contemporary debates over the republic’s identity.
Do You Love Israel? Make a Donation - Show Your Support!
Donate to vital charities that help protect Israeli citizens and inspire millions around the world to support Israel too!
Now more than ever, Israel needs your help to fight and win the war -- including on the battlefield of public opinion.
Antisemitism, anti-Israel bias and boycotts are out of control. Israel's enemies are inciting terror and violence against innocent Israelis and Jews around the world. Help us fight back!
