The Righteous

Project Overview

THE RIGHTEOUS
Fiction Series, 10 episodes x 50 minutes, Drama based on real events
Logline
THE RIGHTEOUS tells ten true stories from ten countries of ordinary people, among them a nurse, a cyclist, a diplomat and a bishop, who risked everything to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust: a series about yesterday that holds up a mirror to today, and asks what choice we would make.
The Project
They were nurses, cyclists, diplomats, teachers, bishops, businessmen. None of them set out to become heroes. They simply could not turn away.
THE RIGHTEOUS is a ten episode anthology drama unfolding ten true stories from ten countries, each one a portrait of an ordinary person who chose, at the risk of everything, to save a life, or many. A Polish nurse smuggles children out of the Warsaw Ghetto in coffins and sacks. A Japanese diplomat defies his own government to save thousands of refugees stranded at his consulate. A champion Italian cyclist hides forged documents inside the frame of his own bicycle. A Swedish businessman invents a passport that saves tens of thousands of lives. A bishop in occupied Greece burns a list of names rather than hand it to the Germans.
Each episode is anchored in one country, one person, one impossible choice, yet all of them circle back to the same question, a question that belongs not to the past but to the present: what would you have done? What would you do?
Why Now
Nationalism and antisemitism are rising again across Europe, and the last living witnesses of the Holocaust are disappearing, taking their memories with them. But in every era, in every country, there have always been ordinary people who could not stand by while someone near them was singled out, hunted, or destroyed simply for who they were.
THE RIGHTEOUS is not a series about yesterday. It is history held up as a mirror to today, a tribute to those who once chose courage over silence, and an urgent message to a new generation: heroism was never reserved for exceptional people. It was, and still is, a choice available to anyone.
Structure
Ten episodes, ten countries, ten true stories, each honored by Yad Vashem with the title Righteous Among the Nations.
1. Irina Sendler, Poland: a nurse who smuggled children out of the Warsaw Ghetto in coffins and carts.
2. Georges Mantello and Carl Lutz, Switzerland: diplomats whose protective papers saved thousands of Hungarian Jews.
3. Raoul Wallenberg, Sweden and Hungary: the businessman turned diplomat behind the protective passport.
4. Jeanne Daman, Belgium: a young Catholic woman who hid Jewish children from a Brussels kindergarten.
5. Chiune Sugihara, Japan and Lithuania: a diplomat who defied Tokyo to issue thousands of transit visas.
6. Sir Nicholas Winton, United Kingdom and Czech Republic: a stockbroker who organized the rescue of 669 children.
7. Mohamed Helmy, Germany and Egypt: the first Arab rescuer honored as Righteous, who hid a Jewish family in Berlin.
8. Gino Bartali, Italy: a Tour de France champion who carried forged documents inside his bicycle frame.
9. Marion Pritchard, Netherlands: a social worker who sheltered dozens of Jewish children and adults.
10. Damaskinos of Athens and Bishop Chrysostomos of Zakynthos, Greece: church leaders who defied Nazi orders and saved an entire island’s Jewish community.
The frame: at a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, descendants gather to honor these Righteous, some still alive, some remembered only through their children and grandchildren. Each episode opens a door from that present moment back into the past.
Research and Credibility
The creators secured access to the full archives of Yad Vashem, including its library, its visual center, and its collection of documents, testimonies and photographs, and worked directly with historians recognized as experts on the subject, to tell these stories as accurately as possible.
Creators
THE RIGHTEOUS is created by Elena Hazanov and Youri Hazanov, who also serve as executive producers, alongside executive producer Dan Wechsler.
Elena Hazanov has directed nine features and series in Switzerland and Russia, including Hope (a series for Start.ru), L’Heure du Secret (Swiss Television, two seasons), One Breath (released March 2020), Mistresses (Russia, released 2019 by Disney), and Puppet Syndrome (Russia, Germany, Switzerland), winner of the Best Feature award at the International Silk Road Film Festival.
Youri Hazanov is a global media executive with more than 15 years of experience across content, digital and broadcast partnerships in EMEA, and CEO of Hazan Films, the production company he founded.
Dan Wechsler founded Bord Cadre Films in 2004, a Geneva based production company that has produced about 50 films, among them The Operative, Monos, Birds of Passage, Foxtrot and The Untamed.