An exhibition featuring diplomats who saved Jews
150 ambassadors, consuls-general, MPs and leaders of civil society turned out to honour the 34 diplomats who have been declared Righteous Among The Nations at the launch of a unique exhibition at NSW Parliament House this week.
Linda Royal and Marcel Weyland
The photographic exhibition honours the 34 diplomats from 21 countries, who collectively saved 200,000 Jews from the Nazis.
Titled Beyond Duty, the exhibition comprises a collection of photographs of the diplomats, whose courage in saving Jews from the Holocaust has earned them the recognition of being declared Righteous Among The Nations by Israel’s Holocaust authority, Yad Vashem. It is on display in the Fountain Court at NSW Parliament House as a project of NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and the Embassy of Israel.
The exhibition launch was hosted by Parliamentary Friends of Israel chair Natalie Ward MLC. Israeli Ambassador Mark Sofer then spoke, followed by NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff, who offered a personal perspective, as one of the diplomats being honoured – the wartime Turkish consul-general on Rhodes Island – saved five members of Alhadeff’s family, even though 151 Alhadeff’s were murdered at Auschwitz.
The exhibition runs until February 28.
