The stamp features the portraits of five diplomats awarded the honor of Righteous Among the Nations.

Background: a photo of the crowd outside the Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania, waiting to apply for Japanese transit visas; and a photo of a Protective Pass seal.

(photos and text provided by Yad Vashem Archives and the Department for the Righteous Among the Nations)

Issue: April 1998
Designers: A. Vanooijen
Size: 92.4mm x 30.8mm
Plate #: 345
Sheet of 6 stamps
Tabs: 2
Printers: E. Lewin-Epstein Ltd.
Method: Offset

To date, almost 16,000 men and women have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. Each is awarded a medal and a certificate of honor in ceremonies conducted in Israel by Yad Vashem, or abroad through Israeli diplomatic representatives. Their names are also engraved on tablets of honor in the Yad Vashem Garden for the Righteous. Before the construction of the Garden, some 2,000 trees were planted in the recipients' names.

The stamp is issued on the occasion of Holocaust and Heroism Day and commemorates the deeds of diplomats who were nominated for issuing "life visas" to hundreds and thousands of Jews. Previously, the Philatelic Service has issued a Righteous Among the Nations stamp in 1979 and a Raoul Wallenberg stamp in 1983.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes (1885-1954)
Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux, Prance

In June 1940, with the imminent capture of the city by the Germans, Aristides de Sousa Mendes issued thousands of visas to Jewish refugees -- despite instructions to the contrary. As a result, he was removed from his post and deprived of all pension benefits. He ended up having to sell his possessions to help support his family of thirteen children. He died poor and forgotten. He was proclaimed Righteous Among the Nations in 1966. In 1987, Portugal officially rehabilitated him.

Sempo Sugihara (1900-1986)
Japanese Consul-General in Kaunas, capital of Lithuania in 1940

In 1940, the Soviet Union overran Lithuania and instructed all foreign diplomats to shut down their offices. Before departing, and ignoring instructions from his government, Sugihara supplied several thousand Jewish refugees from Poland with Japanese visas. He was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1984.

Selahattin Ulkumen (1914-)
Turkish Consul-General on the Greek island of Rhodes

In July 1944, the Germans rounded up all of Rhodes' Jews for deportation to concentration camps. Ulkumen presented the local German commander with a list of 50 Jews whom he claimed were Turkish nationals, and demanded their release. The Germans, after first hedging, finally agreed. The rest of the island's 1,500 Jews were deported to Auschwitz. Ulkumen was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1990.

Giorgio Perlasca (1910-1992)
staff member of the Spanish legation in Budapest, Hungary

An Italian citizen, Giorgio Perlasca worked for the Spanish legation. With the approach of the Red Army, the Spanish minister was instructed to leave Budapest, and Perlasca posed as Spain's Charge d'Affaires. Together with Raoul Wallenberg of Sweden and other representatives of neutral countries, he negotiated with the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross authorities for special privileges for the hundreds of Jews who were issued "Protective Passes" by the Spanish legation and were sheltered in houses flying the Spanish flag. It is estimated that close to a thousand Jews benefited from Giorgio Perlasca's aid. He was proclaimed Righteous Among the Nations in 1988.

Charles Lutz (1895-1975)
Swiss envoy in Budapest, Hungary

In 1944, Charles Lutz devised the Schutzpasse, "Protective Pass", as a means to protect thousands of Jews from deportation. With Lutz's help, Raoul Wallenberg and representatives of other neutral countries used this innovative scheme to great advantage. Lutz himself issued these certificates to thousands of Jews, thereby providing them with Swiss diplomatic immunity. With the approach of the front, he ignored orders to leave Budapest, so as to ensure the safety of those holding Swiss "protective passes", and he remained in the besieged and war-torn city until its full liberation in February 1945. He was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1964.