Susanna Kokkonen from Christian Friends of Yad Vashem talks to Paul Calvert about Holocaust education, and their project to honour non-Jews who risked their lives and careers to help Jews during the Holocaust.

We made a film about somebody's grandfather, then afterwards this man, who had no idea of the magnitude of what had happened, I saw him in the Yad Vashem area many times. He came here again and again afterwards, because it was so important for him to learn the story.

When I say it's moving it's almost under estimating the magnitude of the actions and how it feels for the family to find out. If they didn't know why somebody was murdered during the Holocaust, a non-Jew, and then they suddenly find out what was behind it, it's huge.

Paul: How do you find out about these people who are righteous amongst the nations?

Susanna: There is a committee and that committee has a Supreme Court judge. It's a very long process, because it is very important to evaluate. You can't give someone the title if you're not sure what they did.

One of the criteria is if the person risked their lives, and if it is the case of a diplomat or an ambassador, if they risked their careers.

You also need to have testimonies. You need to have some kind of witness, and then you would need to have some documents to verify that the person was in the place where they had to be during that time.

It's not an easy process at all and normally the initiative comes from people who know about somebody who helped someone, or from the family of the person who was rescued. That is the normal way it would come to Yad Vashem's attention and then they would start the investigation.

Paul: It must be quite a long process?

Susanna: Yes it is a long process. There is a whole department that deals just with the righteous amongst the nations.

Paul: Which is the biggest country that has the righteous amongst the nations?

Susanna: Poland. Obviously in Poland you had the largest Jewish community in Europe, over three million Jews, and then that would be followed by Holland.

Paul: Did many of these people actually risk their lives to save Jews?

Susanna: They would only be called righteous amongst the nations if they risked their life. Of course in Eastern Europe the punishment for hiding Jews was usually much harsher than in Western Europe. You could be shot, not only you, but also your children and anybody that was living in your house.

If you were in Western Europe we know for example from the story of Anna Frank that the people who were helping, they would share the fate of the Jews; they would be taken to a camp.