Lot 1039

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Description:

YAD VASHEM "RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS" PRESENTATION MEDAL
A very rare relic, an original "Righteous Among the Nations" medal presented to a woman who saved two Jews in Russia during the Holocaust. The medal is crafted from silver-plated bronze measuring 2 1/2" diameter and showing on the front the arms of concentration camp survivors weaving a rope around the globe, with the verso depicting a building and the phrase "Le Peuple Juif Reconnaisant". The Israeli cause Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, embarked in 1963 upon a worldwide project to grant the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" to the heroes who helped Jews during the Holocaust, setting up a public Commission, headed by a Supreme Court Justice, to examine each case. Those recognized as heroes receive a medal such as our example and a certificate of honor. Their names are commemorated on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. Our particular medal was awarded to Galina Pilipenko in 2000. According to an explanatory email accompanying the lot: "On the eve of the German invasion into the Soviet Union, Nikolay Syabruk was a high school student...one of his classmates was a Naum Khmara, a Jewish boy. Although they were not friends, Nikolay felt an obligation to help Naum...The Germans...occupied Baranovka on June 10, 1941, and immediately crowded the Jews into a ghetto...Every day he provided Naum with food...After several killings (Aktion)...in which Naum's father perished, the general population was told in no uncertain terms that helping Jews was forbidden...However, Nikolay and his family ignored the Germans' warning and continued to provide food...Naum and his sister Eva...would take temporary refuge in Nikolay's home. In November 1941 after Naum was sent to a labor camp...the Syabruk family continued to support his relatives...On Jan. 6, 1942, a final Aktion to liquidate the ghetto took place, which Eva, alone of the family, survived. One day...she came secretly to the Syabruk family and stayed with them for two days. She was determined to find her younger brother Naum...But after setting out, she felt that she lacked the strength to reach her destination. She then recalled a classmate, Galina Pilipenko...Galina took her in but ten days later, in the wake of threats by the neighbors, Eva had to leave and continue on her way to the labor camp in Novograd-Volynks. There, to her joy, she found her brother. Under subhuman conditions the two survived until December 1942, when Soviet partisans attacked the camp guards and freed the inmates....". Along with Galina, Yad Vashem recognized Nikolay Syabruk and his parents. The medal is housed within the original felt-lined wood box and is in fine condition.

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June 4, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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