The life story of Holocaust survivor David Gur, who will celebrate his 100th birthday this coming March, begins in a small village in southeastern Hungary. "I was born in 1926 in a village that might not even be on the map," he said, recounting how several years later the family moved to a larger village where growing antisemitism caused difficulties.
"In the 1930s, anti-Jewish politicians began rising in Hungary. The prime minister was completely anti-Jewish, and from 1938 the Hungarian parliament started enacting laws against Jews, regardless of the Germans," he recounted. For example, his father, David, had his merchant license revoked, a step that led to economic hardship for the family.
"I was the best gymnast in the class on the equipment, and I also played soccer," he recalled. "So those two things guaranteed me a central place among the non-Jewish friends I had." They, for their part, were drawn into the antisemitic spirit hovering over Europe in those years, and made sure to tell him, "If only all Jews were like you, what a wonderful world we would have."
Young David understood he needed to leave before the situation worsened and moved to Budapest to find work. He worked during the day as an assistant to a Jewish contractor, learning physical work, and in the evenings studied technical drafting. During that period, while hearing about Palestine, he also found his way to the Hashomer Hatzair movement, which operated partly underground and maintained the Zionist spirit.
With the Nazi invasion of Hungary in March 1944, the Zionist youth movements in the country all went underground, and there it was decided to organize and establish the United Underground. "It was the only place in all of Europe where the different organizations decided in advance to work together to save Jews," David described, the last surviving member of the Jewish underground.
Thanks to his drafting skills, David became one of the pillars of the document forgery laboratory, which flooded Hungary with countless certificates and letters of protection issued to Jews. Alongside this, David helped smuggle more than 15,000 young Jews to Romania and establish 55 children's homes that saved thousands of Jewish children and youth.
The remarkable story of David, a Jew who fled the horrors and chose to save other Jews, is one of many that over the years have not received the honor and appreciation they deserve.
According to estimates, during World War II, approximately 3,000 Jewish rescuers operated in more than 35 countries using countless different methods, all with one goal – to save their brothers and sisters from Nazi atrocities. Among these rescuers are names we know to this day – such as Knesset member and former minister Zerah Warhaftig, of blessed memory, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
In 2000, after decades in which these heroes did not receive recognition, Holocaust survivor Chaim Roth established the "Committee for Recognition and Appreciation of the Heroism of Jews Who Saved Jews in the Holocaust," which sought to expose the dimensions of the historical phenomenon, recognize Jewish rescuers in law, and appreciate their heroism.
"In 2014, I joined the committee, and since then I have dedicated my time to documenting the activities of Jews who saved Jews in the Holocaust and researching the phenomenon," said Moshe Gromb, a social entrepreneur who several years later established an independent action committee. "As part of this activity, I met with Holocaust researchers, historians, museum directors, public figures, rescuers, survivors, and their family members, and was exposed to hundreds of thousands of documents, books, and certificates that opened a window for me to the subject. In 2018, I established the 'The Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust,' which constitutes the largest research and documentation project in the world on the subject, and whose goal is to bring an end to the discrimination and injustice."
Among other things, the committee seeks to amend the "Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Law – Yad Vashem, 1953," which was enacted approximately 30 years before the exposure of the phenomenon of Jews who saved Jews in the Holocaust and does not address it at all, and to add a clause whereby the memorial authority will also commemorate "members of the Jewish people who risked their lives to save their fellow Jews." However, the activists seek to carry out the step with the necessary sensitivity so as not to harm the Righteous Among the Nations or their reputations.
According to Gromb, "The State of Israel, which rose from the ashes of the Holocaust, owes a deep moral debt to those Jewish heroes who acted to save their fellow Jews. This is our duty to the past, but no less so – to the future. The time has come for recognition of these heroic Jews in the Holocaust remembrance law."
Ron Kogman, a member of the action committee, added, "This is the historical right to disseminate widely the stories of the heroism of Jews who risked their lives to save their fellow Jews. This is part of the ethos of Jewish heroism throughout history, expressed in physical combat and in courage of spirit – that same courage that led to the establishment of the state and its continuous preservation."
When David was asked about the recognition, he responded, "It saddens me. We should have reached this long ago, but it's a matter of politics. It's possible that in another generation or two we'll get there. I hope there will be public and institutionalized recognition, one that is supported by state institutions."
Over the years, several proposals have reached the Knesset table to amend the law, but none have been completed. "I was saved by Christians, and also by a Jew without whom I wouldn't be here with you today," Roth himself said in the Knesset in the past. "Youth are educated that Jews went like sheep to slaughter – that's not true. Alongside the partisans and ghetto fighters, there were also Jews who saved Jews while risking their lives." Subsequently, it was agreed in the Knesset that the Education, Culture and Sports Committee at the time "will consider expanding the 'Yad Vashem' law to also include the subject of Jewish rescuers."
Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot also addressed the subject in a letter he wrote to the committee, "We must remember and not forget the strength of spirit revealed alongside the pain. The values of heroism and compassion, according to which the Jewish people acted to save their brothers, accompany us even today."
President Isaac Herzog also addressed the importance of appreciating Jews who saved Jews during a ceremony awarding the "Jewish Rescuer Medal," where he said that these Jews "were forgotten or not discussed enough in Jewish literature and history. Now it is clear to us that it is right and fitting to appreciate Jewish rescuers as well."
Today, alongside efforts to bring about legislative amendments, the action committee seeks to instill the subject among the younger generation. Using artificial intelligence tools, the activists launched a project in which filmed testimonies of Holocaust survivors were edited alongside animated segments that dramatized the actions they took. For example, alongside David's testimony video, a video created using artificial intelligence is presented, showing, ostensibly, young David forging documents for Hungarian Jews, and the moment when he was caught by Hungarian detectives.
"The main goal is to succeed in making the information and testimonies accessible to younger generations," said Dotan Ninveh, coordinator of the creative project. "The heroism stories of then and the heroism stories that have accompanied us since October 7 remind each other, and we hope that young people's attention will be directed to the subject."
