Prague, Nov 14 (CTK) – The Israeli ambassador to the Czech Republic, GaryKoren, bestowed the Righteous Among the Nations title, which the Jerusalem Yad Vashem memorial grants to Holocaust victims, on Czechoslovak diplomat Vladimir Vochoc in memoriam for his salvation of Jews during World War II.
In his capacity of Czechoslovak consul in Marseille, Vochoc issued Czechoslovak passports to Jews to enable them leave for overseas and escape the Nazi atrocities.
Vochoc is the 116th Czech to gain the prestigious title.
His grand nephew David Vochoc took over the award at a ceremony at the Czech Foreign Ministry.
He said his uncle decided to help those persecuted though he knew that he was breaching certain rules. Vladimir Vochoc acted based on the principle that even a small deed my prevent big evil, David Vochoc said.
The information on how many people Vochoc helped through the issuance of passports is unavailable.
Those whom he saved include historian Konrad Heiden, satirist Walter Mehring, writer Leonhard Frank and Byzantine studies expert Ernst Stein, Czech historian Adam Hajek said at the ceremony on Monday.
Vochoc himself was forced to flee France in 1941. He joined the Czechoslovak government in exile in London.
After the communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948, he was persecuted and sentenced to 13 years in a show trial. He spent almost seven years in prison. He was released based on a 1960 amnesty.
The Righteous Among the Nations title goes to people of other than Jewish origin, who helped save Jews. It has been bestowed on a total 26,120 people so far.
