List of Lithuanian Righteous Among the Nations

The citizens of Lithuania have the second highest count of individuals per capita who have been recognised by Yad Vashem as the Lithuanian Righteous Among the Nations, for saving Jews from extermination during the Holocaust in World War II. There are as of December 1, 2022, 924 Lithuanian men and women bestowed with the honour. The Lithuanian list includes not only Lithuanians, but also Polish and Russian citizens of Lithuania. The search for the righteous is ongoing but it has become increasingly difficult to find survivors who can confirm the fact of rescue and tell their story. Most of the Jews were saved by peasants as it was easier to hide them in remote farms and most rescued Jews were children as they attracted less attention. More Jews were saved in Samogitia (western Lithuania) than in other areas of Lithuania. Many of the rescued Jews were helped by multiple people. For example, Glikas family (parents and five children) was helped by about twenty Lithuanian families; ten individuals were recognized as the Righteous Among the Nations in 2005.

The Righteous Among the Nations award was established in 1963. Julija Vitkauskienė and Ona Šimaitė were the first Lithuanians to be awarded this title in 1966. The majority of the Lithuanian rescuers, recognized as Righteous, have also received the Lithuanian State Award, the Life Saving Cross. The cross was first awarded in September 1992 and it was initiated by Vytautas Landsbergis, chairman of the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas, and Emanuelis Zingeris, director of the Jewish Museum.