Jan Zwartendijk, a Dutch diplomat who issued visas to thousands of Lithuanian Jews, enabling them to escape Nazi persecution, has posthumously received the highest

Dutch non-military honor, the gold Erepenning voor Menslievend Hulpbetoon (medal of honor for humanitarian aid).

Zwartendijk, who served as the head of Philips in Kaunas, Lithuania, and acted as consul, helped numerous Jews flee to the Dutch Antilles and Suriname, territories not occupied by the Germans.

Although he believed he had saved only one person, subsequent research revealed that 95% of those issued visas by him had survived. Despite previous recognition from Israel and Lithuania, Zwartendijk's work had never been officially acknowledged by the Dutch state during his lifetime, and he was even reprimanded for breaking consular visa rules by a post-war minister linked to the Nazi-affiliated NSB party.

Campaigning by D66 MP Sjoerd Sjoerdsma led to an official apology from the Dutch state five years ago, and Zwartendijk's children received the honor from Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Photo by Mary-Grace Blaha Schexnayder, Wikimedia commons.