Mandela to be honoured in Poland's 'Garden of the Righteous'

The forthcoming memorials were announced on Friday night, chiming in with the European Day of the Righteous, a commemorative day established by the European Parliament in 2012.

Although the day was inspired by the 'righteous gentiles' that risked their lives to save Jews from the clutches of the Nazis during World War II, the European Day of the Righteous is likewise dedicated to opponents of all forms totalitarianism and injustice.

Hence the honouring of three figures this year who were not directly linked to the Holocaust of Jews.

Besides Mandela, the committee of the Garden of the Righteous honoured Petro Grigorenko (d.1987), a pioneer of human rights in Soviet Russia.

Also selected was former governor of Ankhara Hasan Mazhar Bey, who tried to protect the Armenians under Ottoman Turkish rule from genocide in 1915.

Trees will be planted in Warsaw's Garden of the Righteous, which was opened in 2014, on 27 April this year in memory of the three figures.

Last year, among those honoured was Jan Karski, the WWII resistance courier who endeavoured to inform the West about the extent of the German Nazis' extermination programme against the Jews.

Friday's gala was held at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

The Polish capital's Garden of the Righteous was inspired its counterpart in Jerusalem. Over 6400 ethnic Poles are commemorated there for aiding Jews during World War II. (nh)

Source: PAP