Attitudes towards the Jews during the Holocaust mostly ranged from indifference to hostility. The mainstream watched as their former neighbors were rounded up and killed; some collaborated with the perpetrators; many benefited from the expropriation of the Jews property. But in this world of moral collapse there was a small minority who mustered extraordinary courage to uphold human values. One of the principal duties of Yad Vashem is to convey the gratitude of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. This mission was defined by the law establishing Yad Vashem, and in 1963 the Remembrance Authority embarked upon a worldwide project to grant the title of Righteous Among the Nations to the few who helped Jews in the darkest time in their history. To this end, Yad Vashem set up a public Commission, headed by a Supreme Court Justice, which examines each case and is responsible for granting the title. Those recognized receive a medal and a certificate of honor and their names are commemorated on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. This project is an unprecedented attempt by the victims to pay tribute to people who stood by their side at a time of persecution and great tragedy. Based on the principle that each individual is responsible for his or her deeds, the program is aimed at singling out within the nations of perpetrators, collaborators and bystanders persons who bucked the general trend and helped the persecuted Jews. One of the great challenges of the program was to define set criteria for awarding the title. The concept of the Righteous, as defined by the Yad Vashem Law, has become a revered worldwide term of honor denoting a most singular form of human heroism and of choosing good in the face of evil. The Righteous honored by Yad Vashem come from 44 countries; they are Christians from all denominations as well as Muslims, religious and agnostic, men and women, people from all walks of life, of all ages, educated professionals and illiterate peasants, rich and poor. The only common denominator is the humanity and the courage they displayed by standing up for their moral principles.

Notwithstanding that Yad Vashem --The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority is the sole authority in rendering the "Righteous Among the Nations" title to non-Jews that risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust years, a lucrative business operation to bypass Yad Vashem was launched in 1993 by the (great) Holocaust research impostor with zero academic credentials, Eric Saul, through his bogus photo traveling exhibits "Visas For Life" where, for a fee, diplomats that were not recognized as Righteous by Yad Vashem were making the Righteous list of diplomats in the Saul exhibits. One of such recent example is that of the American Vice-Consul in Marseilles, France, the late Hiram "Harry" Bingham IV. Using the same identical deceitful scheme as the one mastered, to a state of art, by Eric Saul, the Adas Israel Congregation of Washington, DC, USA in its Garden of the Righteous began incorporating people who Yad Vashem declined to award them with the Righteous title. Examples of such people rejected by Yad Vashem that recently were placed in the Garden of the Righteous of Adas Israel Congregation are the 2008 honoree Khaled Abdul-Wahab or the 2010 honoree Hiram "Harry" Bingham IV. .

There are ways and ways to make a buck. There is nothing, but absolutely nothing, lower in ethics, morality, or ordinary decency than that of using the Holocaust and its tragic legacy, to make money out of a deceiving scheme to circumvent the judgment of Yad Vashem and of the Jewish State, and --in the process-- of tarnishing the names of the true heroes and heroines of the Holocaust. If Adas Israel Congregation is not corrupted to its core and still has left one ounce of decency, then it should return the money pocketed from those that provided to circumvent Yad Vashem and make sure that all its honorees, in the future, are in fact true Righteous Among the Nations as recognized by Yad Vashem and no one else and, stop including those that were specifically rejected by Yad Vashem regardless how lucrative such a disgusting scheme could be. There are things in life that never ever should be traded for any amount of money. And the sacred grounds of the Holocaust with certainty falls into that category. Let us hope and pray that the Congregation's left conscience will be able to change the way it is now conducting its business. Until then, I continue to express my profound disgust for the direction and course that the current Adas Israel Congregation has taken and is pursuing. God, if there is one, need not show forgiveness. Respectfully submitted, K. K. Brattman Managing Editor Dated: May 9, 2010. PS. An Open Invitation for a response is provided herein and, should the Adas Israel Congregation chooses to respond it shall be placed in full in here..