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Egyptian doctor honoured for saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust

Egyptian doctor Mohamed Helmy, who died in 1982, is the first Arab to be recognised as Righteous Among the Nations

October 27, 2017 08:15
Nasser Kotby walks past a portrait of his uncle Egyptian doctor Mohamed Helmy, who was posthumously honoured
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Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial centre has presented an honour to the family of an Arab man who saved the lives of Jews during the Holocaust, four years after it was announced.

Egyptian doctor Mohamed Helmy was awarded the Righteous Among the Nations honorific, which is given to non-Jews who risked their own lives to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.

Helmy, who died in 1982, is the first Arab to be recognised in this way.

The Yad Vashem recognition was received by Nasser Kotby, an 81-year-old medicine professor who was Helmy’s great-nephew.