A Polish Christian woman who saved the lives of Jews during World War II was presented with the Yad Vashem “Medal of the Just” by the Israeli Ambassador to Switzerland, Mattityahu Adler, in Bern.
Honored at a reception in the Ambassador’s home was Irena Vicenz who, with her late husband, Stanislav Vicenz, fled Poland and lived as refugees in Hungary during the war. When Hungary was occupied by the Nazis, they hid many Jews who otherwise would have been deported.
Ambassador Adler noted that had they been discovered by the Gestapo, the couple would have been shot. They settled in Lausanne after the war. Stanislav died in 1971. “This medal can only be a symbol of our gratitude,” the envoy said. “Our goonim say whoever saves one human life saves a whole world.”
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