Righteous Diplomats

As Nazi Germany intensified its anti-Jewish policy, increasing numbers of Jews were driven to flee and to seek ways to emigrate. Long lines of desperate people seeking visas formed in front of foreign consulates, but the free world was reluctant to permit entry of the many refugees. Most diplomats continued to employ ordinary procedures in extraordinary times; only very few proved to be an exception and faced with the refugees’ plight, were willing to act against their government’s policy and instructions and suffer the consequences. Listed below are diplomats who saved Jews and have been recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.