Three Volhynian Czechs named Righteous Among the Nations

The title of Righteous Among the Nations was awarded in Prague on Wednesday in memoriam to Bohuslav, Olga and Evženie Čepka, a Volhynian Czech family who hid a Jewish family from the Nazis for ten months during the Second World War, thereby saving their lives. The award was given to the descendants of the Čepka family in the residence of the Israeli ambassador to Czechia, Anna Azaria. The descendants of the rescued Gerstein family, who live in Canada, and the Canadian ambassador were also present.

The title of Righteous Among the Nations is awarded by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem to people of non-Jewish origin who helped protect and save Jews from the Holocaust during the Second World War. More than 28,000 people from 51 countries have so far been awarded the title, with 125 of those, including the Čepka family, coming from the Czech Republic or former Czechoslovakia.