A decade ago, Matthew J. McCarthy learned that his colleague’s great-grandfather had been interned in a concentration camp for rescuing two Jewish girls during the Holocaust.

The Silver Spring attorney took on this case as a pro bono matter in 2021, demonstrating that Frans Gerardus Swidde and Johanna Timmers should be posthumously recognized for their “courage and selflessness” in rescuing Jewish individuals at “immense personal risk.”

McCarthy recently saw the case’s success — in late July, his law firm, McCarthy Legal & Consulting, P.C., announced that Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, will bestow his clients the title of “Righteous Among the Nations.” The “esteemed title” recognizes non-Jewish individuals who risked their lives to aid and save Jews during the Holocaust.

“One of the realities of being a litigator is that resolutions to complex cases very rarely come quickly,” McCarthy told Washington Jewish Week. “But for me, I consider this one of the most important cases I’ve ever had the honor to work on.”

Yad Vashem has four qualifications a candidate must meet in order to earn the title “Righteous Among the Nations.” The rescuer must have been “actively involved in saving Jews from the threat of death or deportation to concentration camps or killing centers,” “risked their own life or liberty in their attempt to save Jews” and had the original motive of protecting and saving Jews from the Holocaust. The final criterion is firsthand testimony from those rescued.

Swidde and Timmers sheltered and protected their neighbors’ daughters, Rebecca and Sellie Weijl, during the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II.

“The Swidde family’s bravery came at a severe cost,” a press release read. “Frans Gerardus Swidde was arrested and interned for six months in a concentration camp as a political prisoner due to his involvement with the rescue.”

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