The officer whose true story is told in Roman Polanski's film The Pianist joins Oskar Schindler in receiving posthumous medal

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

A German army officer whose character was portrayed in Roman Polanski's 2002 Oscar-winning film The Pianist has received a posthumous honour from Israel for saving the lives of Jews during the holocaust.

Captain Wilhelm Hosenfeld, who was played by Thomas Kretchmann in Polanski's drama, worked surreptitiously to save Jews in the Warsaw ghetto during the second world war.

In the film he helps a half-starved Polish Jewish musician, Wladyslaw Szpilman, played by Adrien Brody, by bringing him food and allowing him to remain hidden in the attic of an empty building in the devastated city. He is later shown interned in a Russian POW camp after the Nazis are pushed out of Warsaw by the Red Army.

The real Hosenfeld died in Soviet captivity in 1952, possibly as a result of torture by the Russian authorities who believed him responsible for war crimes.

Hosenfeld joins the few German army officers to receive Israel's Righteous Among the Nations honour, which is awarded by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial to people who helped Jews avoid death in the Nazi genocide. Friday's ceremony in Berlin was attended by the sons of both Hosenfeld and Szpilman.

"We have brought an eternal curse on ourselves and will be forever covered with shame," Hosenfeld wrote in his diaries and letters during the war, also expressing his "horror at the extermination of the Jewish people".

Hosenfeld joined the Nazi party in 1935 and was drafted into the German army shortly before it invaded Poland in 1939. He served as a sports and culture officer in Warsaw during the occupation, but was involved in some interrogations.

Evidence suggests he also risked his life to save another Jew, Leon Warm, by providing false documents, shelter and assistance until the end of the war.

"The rescuer of Jewish life who we honour today through his courageous act showed that there were people in uniform, even under a dictatorship and under terror, who stood up for humanity and compassion," said Ilan Mor, Israel's deputy ambassador.

Andrzej Szpilman, whose father Wladyslaw died in 2000, said of Hosenfeld: "He was a person who helped very many different people from the beginning of the war, regardless of their origin, their religion or race."

The Pianist won Academy awards for best director, actor and adapted screenplay in 2003, as well as taking the Palme D'Or at Cannes and two Bafta awards.

Hosenfeld joins Oskar Schindler, who received the Righteous Among the Nations medal in 1963. The German businessman and Nazi party member also saved Polish Jews from execution by employing them in his factories, and was commemorated in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning 1993 film Schindler's List.