Mohammed Helmy


Dr Mohammed Helmy was an Egyptian doctor who saved several Jews from Nazi persecution in Berlin during the Holocaust. He has been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. He was the first Arab to be recognized as such.

Biography

Helmy went to Berlin in 1922 to study medicine. However, he started working at the Robert Koch Hospital after graduation, but he was sacked from his job in 1938, as the Nazis wanted to dismiss non-Aryans; moreover, he was banned from working in hospitals, and from marrying his German fiancée, Annie Ernst. Helmy was vocal in criticizing Adolf Hitler publicly, which led to his arrest in 1939 and 1940, along with other Egyptians, until his release due to personal health issues. During the WWII, he treated several Jewish families and even hid them from prosecution.

Tribute

Relatives of Helmy were sought by Yad Vashem to present them with the honour awarded to Helmy; they were, however, not interested in accepting the award, citing hostile relations between Israel and Egypt. Eventually, four years after he was recognized as the first Arab Righteous Among the Nations, film director Taliya Finkel who made a movie about Helmy, located the son of his nephew, Nasser Kotby. Kotbi agreed to receive the certificate from the Israeli ambassador to Berlin, but at a ceremony in the German Foreign Ministry, not in the Israeli Embassy, due to the family's difficulty in receiving the honor directly from an Israeli institution.