Indeed, the number of Polish “Righteous Among Nations,” recognized by Israel’s Yad Vashem for their wartime heroism, is the largest among all European countries (unsurprisingly, given that prewar Poland had Europe’s largest Jewish population by far). But these remarkable individuals typically acted on their own, against prevailing social norms.
当然，有些波兰人在战时帮助过犹太人。事实上，以色列大屠杀纪念馆（Yad Vashem）所承认的波兰“各国义士”人数是全部欧洲国家中最多的（这并不奇怪，因为战前波兰是迄今为止欧洲犹太人数量最多的国家）。但这些可歌可泣的个体的行为常常是自发的，与主流社会规范对立。他们是另类，在战争结束后很久仍然对邻居隐瞒他们在战时的英雄行为——似乎是害怕所在社区会因此排斥、威胁和驱逐他们。