Moshe Bejski (; 29 December 1921 – 6 March 2007) was a Polish-born Israeli Supreme Court Justice and President of Yad Vashem's Righteous Among the Nations Commission. After surviving the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

with the help of

Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler (; 28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a German industrialist, humanitarian, and member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and amm ...

, Bejski immigrated to Israel. In 1961, he testified about his experiences during the Holocaust during the trial of Adolf Eichmann. He served on the Tel Aviv-Yafo district court from 1968 to 1979 and was appointed to the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

, where he served from 1979 to 1991. As President of the Righteous Commission from 1975 to 1991, Bejski helped honor thousands of Holocaust rescuers. He also headed the Bejski Commission in the aftermath of the

1983 Israel bank stock crisis The bank stock crisis was a financial crisis that occurred in Israel in 1983, during which the stocks of the four largest banks in Israel collapsed. In previous episodes of share price weakness, the banks bought back their own stocks, creating t ...

, which led to the

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

of most of Israel's major banks.

Life

Childhood in Poland

Moshe Bejski was born in the village of

Działoszyce Działoszyce is a town in Pińczów County in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in southern Poland, with 2,882 inhabitants as of December 2023. History The town is located in historic Lesser Poland, and the earliest mention of Działoszyce in hist ...

, near

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, on 29 December 1921. During his youth, he joined a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

organization that organized the move of young

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

to build a new nation in the Jewish "promised land". However, he was not able to leave for Palestine with his family before the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939 due to health issues.

The Holocaust

The German occupation of Kraków began on 6 September 1939. The area's Jews were murdered or required to live in the

Kraków Ghetto The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major metropolitan Nazi ghettos created by Germany in the new General Government territory during the Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German occupation of Poland in World War II. It was established for the p ...

. Bejski's parents and sister were shot soon after they were separated. In 1942, Bejski, along with his brothers Uri and Dov, ended up in the forced

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

Płaszów Płaszów is a suburb of Kraków, Poland, now part of Podgórze district. Formerly a separate village, it became a part of the Greater Kraków in 1911 under the Austrian Partition of Poland as the 21st cadastral district of the city. During World ...

. On paper, the brothers were listed as a machine fitter and a draftsman, but Uri had expertise in weapons and Moshe had become a skilled document-forger. Throughout the war, Moshe Bejski helped forge papers and passports that other inmates and Schindler used to smuggle resources to the Jews or to smuggle Jews out of danger. He and his brothers eventually got placed on the famous list for

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

in occupied

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, where they spent the remainder of the war in relative safety. He was worker number 531 on Schindler's list. They were liberated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in May 1945. When the brothers discovered the fate of their parents and sister, they decided to emigrate to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

New life in Israel

Bejski was able to begin a new life in the place of his dreams that he hadn't been able to reach when he was a boy, but his Zionist dream soon clashed with reality. His brother Uri was killed by an Arab sniper on the day the Jewish State was recognized by the UN. He served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

during the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, reaching the rank of captain. In 1949, he was sent to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to manage the

Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...

department in Europe and North Africa until 1952. Although he had originally dreamed of becoming an engineer, Bejski completed his law degree at the Sorbonne in 1951 and was awarded a doctorate in law for a thesis on human rights in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. After returning to Israel, he was certified as a lawyer in 1953 and became one of the most reputable lawyers in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. He was appointed a magistrate judge in 1960, a district judge of Tel Aviv-Yafo from 1968 to 1979, and a judge on the

for 12 years, from 1979 until 1991. He also taught legal courses the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

and

Tel-Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

from 1960 through 1969.

The Eichmann Trial

Moshe Bejski left his past in Poland behind him. For years no one knew of his history; he was commonly thought to be a Zionist who came to Palestine before the Nazi persecution or even a native born Israeli. He only willingly revealed his story and origins in 1961, during the

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

of Holocaust architect

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

. He was called on by the state's lead prosecutor, Gideon Hausner to testify about the

Płaszów concentration camp Płaszów is a suburb of Kraków, Poland, now part of Podgórze district. Formerly a separate village, it became a part of the Greater Kraków in 1911 under the Austrian Partition of Poland as the 21st cadastral district of the city. During World ...

. Bejski delivered an emotional account of the circumstances at the camp and he conveyed the many crimes committed there to the court. For the first time in

, the deep unease of the European refugees who survived to the

was revealed. There were those who were unable to integrate themselves and be accepted by a populace who despised them and accused them of cowardice and lack of rebellion against the Nazis. A debate opened around the world, also stirred by the polemic contribution of

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

, a German philosopher of Jewish descent who escaped to America in the 1930s. The hardships connected to the history of the Jews during World War II was divulged.

President of the Righteous Commission

The

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

Memorial was established in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

for eternal remembrance and acknowledgment of the Holocaust victims. In 1953, the State of Israel committed itself to bestowing an honor to gentiles who had saved Jewish lives. They were awarded the title of

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

. The Righteous Commission was established and given the task of running investigations to discover the acts of rescue and to find who the title must be awarded to. The most well-known judge in Israel at the time, Moshe Landau, who had presided over the

Eichmann trial The Eichmann trial was the 1961 trial of major Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann who was Operation Eichmann, captured in Argentina by Israeli agents and brought to Israel to stand trial. Eichmann was a senior Nazi party member and served at t ...

and issued the death verdict, was appointed president. Landau soon left the position and proposed that the nomination be given to Bejski. Bejski replaced him in 1970 and kept the presidency until 1995 when he retired. In that time nearly eighteen thousand Righteous had been honored and had been able to plant a tree in the avenue dedicated to remembering them and their gestures at Yad Vashem. Bejski committed to helping other Righteous people besides Schindler. He fought to obtain the Israeli government's commitment to financially help those who lived precariously, many in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, and to also help those who needed medical assistance.

Bejski Commission

In the aftermath of the

, the Bejski Commission was formed, with Moshe Bejski as chairman. It led to the nationalization of most of Israel's major banks. Its report, issued on 16 April 1986, concluded that major Israeli banks had been rigging the price of bank shares over a long period and called for the dismissal or resignation of many of the heads of the Israeli banking system. 16 of Israel's top banking and government finance officials were censured, resigned or were otherwise punished for their actions.

Death and legacy

Bejski died in

, Israel, on 6 March 2007, at age 85. Bejksi is referred to several times in the books by Holocaust survivors, including ''Night'' by

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

. His response to the philosophical question posed in Holocaust memoir '' The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness'' by

Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal (31 December 190820 September 2005) was an Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and writer. He studied architecture, and was living in Lwów at the outbreak of World War II. He survived the Janowska concentration camp (la ...

is featured in current editions of the book.

Notes

References

External links

Bejski page in the Garden of the righteous Worldwide CommitteeOral history interview with Moshe Bejski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bejski, Moshe 1920s births 2007 deaths Gross-Rosen concentration camp survivors 20th-century Israeli lawyers Judges of the Supreme Court of Israel Citizens of Israel through Law of Return Polish emigrants to Israel 20th-century Polish Jews 21st-century Polish Jews 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Schindlerjuden Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery Members of Aliyah Bet