“I will wear it with pride,”

What is so noteworthy about this particular meeting? Schmid was a German Army Corporal who was risking his life to help save Jews in the ghetto.

To express their gratitude to Schmid, these Jewish young people told him that after the war they would invite him to the Land of Israel and give him a golden Star of David.

“I will wear it with pride,” Schmid replied.

Unfortunately, none of those present at the meeting lived to see that day. Soon after, Anton Schmid was caught and executed; most, if not all of the Jews present at the meeting were killed in the Holocaust.

The promise made to Anton Schmid, however, was not forgotten. It was described in a report by Lonka Koziebrodzka, a courier of the Zionist underground, who wrote a detailed account about the brave soldier and his rescue efforts. The report was added to the many documents preserved in the Oneg Shabbat clandestine archive of the Warsaw Ghetto.

The promise to honour the actions of Anton Schmid (made exactly 81 years ago, #OnThisDay 31 December 1941) was fulfilled in 1964, when Yad Vashem bestowed the title of Righteous Among the Nations on Anton Schmid.