Editing Yad Vashem (section)

==Righteous Among the Nations==
{{Main|Righteous Among the Nations}}
[[File:Holy Land Pilgrimage 2017 P090 Yad Vashem Irena Sendlerowa Tree.jpg|thumb|Tree, memorial honoring [[Irena Sendler]] (Polish social worker who smuggled more than 2,500 Jewish children out of the [[Warsaw Ghetto]])<ref>{{Citation |last=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |title=Irena Sendler (1910–2008)}}</ref>]]
[[File:Yad Vashem BW 2.JPG|thumb|''[[Janusz Korczak]] and the children'', memorial]]
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 12503 childrens memorial at yad vashem.jpg|thumb|Memorial to the Jewish children murdered by the Nazis]]

One of Yad Vashem's tasks is to honor non-Jews who risked their lives, liberty, or positions to save Jews during the Holocaust. To this end, a special independent commission, headed by a retired Supreme Court justice, was established. The commission members, including historians, public figures, lawyers, and Holocaust survivors, examine and evaluate each case according to a well-defined set of criteria and regulations. The Righteous receive a certificate of honor and a medal, and their names are commemorated in the [[Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gariwo.net/eng_new/foreste/yadvashem.php |title=Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide – The Yad Vashem Garden of the Righteous |publisher=Gariwo |access-date=24 July 2012 |archive-date=10 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310080431/http://gariwo.net/eng_new/foreste/yadvashem.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> on the Mount of Remembrance, Yad Vashem. This is an ongoing project that will continue for as long as there are valid requests, substantiated by testimonies or documentation. Five hundred and fifty-five individuals were recognized during 2011, and {{As of|2021|lc=y}}, more than 27,921 individuals have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/statistics.html |title=Names of Righteous by Country |website=Yad Vashem |date=1 January 2021 |access-date=27 January 2022}}</ref>

Yad Vashem's declared policy is not to provide meaningful recognition, even in a possible new category, to Jews who rescued Jews, regardless of the number of people their activism saved. The stated reason is that Jews had an obligation to save fellow Jews and do not deserve recognition.<ref>https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Why-wont-Yad-Vashem-honor-Jewish-rescuers – by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel who directed the Yad Vashem ''Righteous'' department for decades</ref><ref>https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Yad-Vashem-and-Jewish-rescuers-of-Jews-472621 – by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel</ref>