Meet Tomoho Umeda, who served as the official Polish organizer for the Israeli Knesset visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

But his family history has a Jewish connection as well; it is the story of two brave women – a Jewish great-grandmother and a righteous gentile great-grandmother who risked her life to save Jews.

In honor of Holocaust Memorial Day, Arutz Sheva spoke to Tomoho Umeda about his family history. 

One of Umeda’s great-grandmothers escaped the war by marrying a Gentile. The other rented out an apartment in Poland which provided safe passage for over 100 Jews. 

Umeda visited the Western wall on Monday to reconnect to his Jewish roots. 

“It’s hard for me to describe what this means to me,” he said. “It lets me understand much better the Jews’ motivations, intentions [to keep on living]… This is the core of the religion – wanting, desiring to be close to the Holy of Holies.”