The book "Righteous" tells the story of Poles rescuing Jews during the Nazi occupation of Poland, many of whom paid the highest price for their actions (like the families of the Ulms, Kowalskis and Barankowie, for example). At least ten Poles in the know were needed to save one escapee from the ghetto, writes the author. Hanna Krall remembers a network of 42 people of good will who were involved in saving her life as a young girl. Thus, conspiring in defense of the Jews was a much wider phenomenon than is usually assumed.
This richly illustrated volume shows the political and social context of Nazi genocide. The phenomenon of saving Jews is presented in a broader historical perspective as well as through individual histories. Based on material from the archives, the volume is a rich collection of facts, textual and documentary, describing the situation of the Polish and Jewish populations under Nazi occupation, and their mutual relations. It also presents the attitude toward the Holocaust of the Polish Underground State, the conspiratorial groups, the Roman-Catholic Church and different social groups. It reports on the actions to save Jews, both individual and institutional (e.g., the Żegota organization). Witnesses to history who appear in the pages of this book include, among others, Władysław Bartoszewski, Marek Edelman, Irena Sendler and Shewach Weiss.