A new book featuring stories about Belgians who helped save the lives of Jews during WWII was presented Tuesday to Belgium’s ambassador to Israel by the Yad Vashem Institute for the Memory of the Holocaust in Jerusalem.

The ceremony was held at the Yad Vashem auditorium in presence of Jews from Belgium living in Israel, including several Holocaust survivors.

“The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations: Belgium” contains 610 rescue stories about 1,172 Belgians who were recognized Righteous among the Nations up to 1 January 2000. Similar volumes already include Holland, Poland and France.

It was presented by Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem, to ambassador Jean-Michel Veranneman de Watervliet.

Moving moment

The ambassador thanked Professor Dan Michman, the book’s editor, for his important work.

Yad Vashem Candelabra

“This is a moving moment for me as I stand here in Yad Vashem to pay tribute to my countrymen who, in the darkest hours in the history of Belgium stood up to evil, extended their hand to their fellow citizens in need, and risked their lives trying to save Jews from the grips of the Nazis, from extermination,” he said in his speech.

About 25,000 Jews of Belgian nationality or Jewish refugees from other countries, were deported by train to the Auschwitz concentration camp between 1942 and 1944. Only a small minority, about 1200, survived the Holocaust.

He stressed the fact that Belgium was one of the few countries occupied by Nazi Germany where a majority of the Jews escaped deportation and annihilation thanks to the help and devotion of local people.

“Proportionally to its population, Belgium is amongst the small countries of Europe where you find the greatest number of righteous,” Bella Kenigsman, a 70-year-old Belgian who lives in Israel since 1954, told EJP. A survivor of Holocaust thanks to the help of Belgians, she chairs the Israel-Belgium friendship association.

More awards

Every year, Israel is granting the title “righteous among the nations” to Belgians who saved Jews during the war. The ceremony also takes place in other European countries.

“More righteous among the Nations will probably be recognized in the future, including possibly my late grand-father,” Belgium’s ambassador said.

This is a moving moment for me as I stand here in Yad Vashem to pay tribute to my countrymen who, in the darkest hours in the history of Belgium stood up to evil, extended their hand to their fellow citizens in need, and risked their lives trying to save Jews from the grips of the Nazis, from extermination Professor Dan Michman, the book’s editor

Yad Vashem’s chairman expressed the hope that the book would appear in Belgian education classrooms.

Earlier this year, 20 Belgian teachers, from the Flemish and French-speaking communities, took part in Yad Vashem in a one-week seminar on the teaching of the Holocaust in Belgian schools.

Last Sunday, on the occasion of the Jewish Martyr Remembrance Day in Belgium, Belgian ministers of education presented new pedagogical tools chosen in the framework of a project called “Schools for democracy.”

A Holocaust survivor, Simon Gronowski, who was only eleven at the time of his deportation, is the author of a book in which he describes how he escaped from a convoy to Auschwitz. 100,000 copies of this book, especially conceived for 7-9 year old children, will be distributed in Belgian schools.