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Auction 15 30 Jun 2022
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Israel - Yad Vashem Medal given to Righteous Among the Nations - With minting A MELPOMENI YANNOPOULOU - DINA - Copper-Nickel 59 mm - Extremely Rare
Malpomani Dina, the 92-year-old Greek who, along with her two sisters, provided a hiding place for Ms. Yanai's family in Warsaw, a town in northern Greece. , During the German occupation of the country during World War II.
The Mordechai family lives in the small town of Varya, where about 600 Jews lived. For almost two years, Sarah and Yossi, with their mother Miriam, and their brothers Asher, Shmuel and Rachel, received refuge from the Nazis at the home of Dina and her two sisters. As a result of the heroism and sacrifice of the Greek family, almost all members of the Mordechai family survived a war that claimed the lives of most of the Greek Jews - more than 85% of Greek Jews perished in Auschwitz.
The Mordechai family hid in one of the rooms of the house, and the Greek family took care to guard them and feed them despite the danger to their lives - and despite the lack of food. After brother Shmuel died at the age of 6 from an illness, and the family's hiding place was discovered by the authorities - the Greek family helped cement them to the mountains, and continued to take care of all their needs until the end of the war.
In April 1994, Yad Vashem recognized Malpomani Dina as a Righteous Among the Nations.
(Source: Yedioth Ahronoth, https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5619256,00.html#autoplay)
The law that established "Yad Vashem - commemorating the Holocaust and heroism, 5723, 1953" states in a special section that it is the duty of the Remembrance Authority to commemorate the deeds of the "Righteous among Gentiles who risked their lives in order to rescue Jews". Although there were not many to be found in the countries conquered by the Nazi's, they were distinguished for their valor and acts of heroism, deserving to be honored as outstanding people to be remembered by future generations. A special commission, set up by "Yad Vashem", gathered evidence from survivors and endeavored to locate those who risked their lives in rescuing Jews, in order to bestow upon them the title "Righteous among Gentiles", to award them a special medal.
The medal's obverse depicts two hands clutching a rescue line spun from barbed wire strands. The barbed wire lines emerge from empty space but the rescue line enfolds the globe and serves as a handle by which to rotate it (a symbolic expression of the idea that it is deeds such as performed by the rescuers that make the world go around). The globe is surrounded by an inscription "He who saves one soul is like he who saved a whole world".
The reverse shows a schematic version of Yad Vashem and the memorial hill in Jerusalem. In the center, the Hebrew inscription "A token of gratitude from the Jewish people". Below, the French translation, and the French translation of "He who saves one soul is like he who saved the whole world".
This medal, Version II, has an incused dedication box on its reverse, with the name of the recipient inscribed. Version I has no incused box.
Malpomani Dina, the 92-year-old Greek who, along with her two sisters, provided a hiding place for Ms. Yanai's family in Warsaw, a town in northern Greece. , During the German occupation of the country during World War II.
The Mordechai family lives in the small town of Varya, where about 600 Jews lived. For almost two years, Sarah and Yossi, with their mother Miriam, and their brothers Asher, Shmuel and Rachel, received refuge from the Nazis at the home of Dina and her two sisters. As a result of the heroism and sacrifice of the Greek family, almost all members of the Mordechai family survived a war that claimed the lives of most of the Greek Jews - more than 85% of Greek Jews perished in Auschwitz.
The Mordechai family hid in one of the rooms of the house, and the Greek family took care to guard them and feed them despite the danger to their lives - and despite the lack of food. After brother Shmuel died at the age of 6 from an illness, and the family's hiding place was discovered by the authorities - the Greek family helped cement them to the mountains, and continued to take care of all their needs until the end of the war.
In April 1994, Yad Vashem recognized Malpomani Dina as a Righteous Among the Nations.
(Source: Yedioth Ahronoth, https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5619256,00.html#autoplay)
The law that established "Yad Vashem - commemorating the Holocaust and heroism, 5723, 1953" states in a special section that it is the duty of the Remembrance Authority to commemorate the deeds of the "Righteous among Gentiles who risked their lives in order to rescue Jews". Although there were not many to be found in the countries conquered by the Nazi's, they were distinguished for their valor and acts of heroism, deserving to be honored as outstanding people to be remembered by future generations. A special commission, set up by "Yad Vashem", gathered evidence from survivors and endeavored to locate those who risked their lives in rescuing Jews, in order to bestow upon them the title "Righteous among Gentiles", to award them a special medal.
The medal's obverse depicts two hands clutching a rescue line spun from barbed wire strands. The barbed wire lines emerge from empty space but the rescue line enfolds the globe and serves as a handle by which to rotate it (a symbolic expression of the idea that it is deeds such as performed by the rescuers that make the world go around). The globe is surrounded by an inscription "He who saves one soul is like he who saved a whole world".
The reverse shows a schematic version of Yad Vashem and the memorial hill in Jerusalem. In the center, the Hebrew inscription "A token of gratitude from the Jewish people". Below, the French translation, and the French translation of "He who saves one soul is like he who saved the whole world".
This medal, Version II, has an incused dedication box on its reverse, with the name of the recipient inscribed. Version I has no incused box.