Recognition
Jean's determination, strength and courage has led many ordinary people to overcome their fear and to stand up against injustice. His faith as a Seventh-day Adventist had made him to do "the right thing". Although it is true that he was the "heartbeat" of an extensive underground movement, you cannot dissociate his efforts from the efforts of ordinary people participating in dangerous actions, which have been just as important for the organisation as a whole.
For his War efforts, Jean was awarded the United States Medal of Freedom, made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau. The French Government honored him with the Croix de Guerre and Médaille de la Résistance and the Légion d'honneur. The Belgian Government made him an Officer of the Order of Leopold.
At the 1993 opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. he was one of seven persons chosen to light candles recognizing the rescuers. The government of Israel honored Jean as part of the gentiles designated as Righteous Among the Nations at Israel's national Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem where a grove of trees was planted in his name on the Hill of Remembrance along the Avenue of the Righteous.
Read more about this topic: Johan Hendrik Weidner
Famous quotes containing the word recognition:
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. General recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase “It is the busiest man who has time to spare.””
—C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993)
“The person who designed a robot that could act and think as well as your four-year-old would deserve a Nobel Prize. But there is no public recognition for bringing up several truly human beings.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“American feminists have generally stressed the ways in which men and women should be equal and have therefore tried to put aside differences.... Social feminists [in Europe] ... believe that men and society at large should provide systematic support to women in recognition of their dual role as mothers and workers.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)