Stories of Rescue

Explore the stories, see the faces and hear the voices of the civilian heroes of World War II – Polish men and women who helped Jews during the Holocaust, as well as those who, in occupied Poland, received that help from them. Our collection, accumulated since 2007, contains almost 1,000 stories of rescue. Browse through the alphabetical list of the rescuers and the rescued, our catalogue of the most important topics and places of rescue. Also, you can browse by format – interviews with witnesses to history and artefacts contained in POLIN Museum collection. The historical context of the German occupation of Poland and other European countries can also be found the section About the Righteous.


An Alphabetical List of Stories

Discover the stories of Polish men and women who helped Jews during the Holocaust. Browse through all the stories of rescue which have been collected by POLIN Museum – alphabetically by rescued and rescuer.

Stories by Topic

Explore selected stories of help, grouped according to the most important topics relating to the history of the extermination of the Jews and the German occupation of Poland.

A Map of Rescue

Browse through stories of helping Jews in occupied Poland by location. We have designated hundreds of places on the map – places where Jews, with the help of Poles, were in hiding during the Holocaust.

Oral History

View or listen to excerpts from interviews with witnesses to history – with Polish men and women who saved Jews and with Holocaust survivors. These recordings are from POLIN Museum’s Oral History Collection.

Historical Artefacts

See artefacts from POLIN Museum’s collection. They tell the stories of Poles who saved Jews during the Holocaust. You can view photographs, letters and everyday items.

Your Stories

Read more stories of the rescue of Jews during the German occupation. See the memorabilia, sent to POLIN Museum, by the rescuers and the rescued, as well as by their descendants.