HERO OF THE HOLOCAUST

SWISS DIPLOMAT WHO SAVED THOUSANDS IN THE HOLOCAUST REMEMBERED IN NEW YORK

Photos: CARL LUTZ, a Swiss diplomat, an unknown hero of World War II.

Swisspeaks ’05, The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and Park East Synagogue presented a celebration on the 30th anniversary of Carl Lutz’s death on May 11. The event included personal narratives and life experience about a great hero of our times. Speakers pannel included Mr. Michael Vertes, who was saved by Carl Lutz, Mrs. Agnes Hirschi, Ambassador Raymond Loretan, Consul General of Switzerland in NY and Rabbi Arthur Schneier. An exhibition on Carl Lutz provided by Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland, was shown and Pianist Sebastian Forster, who played with the Budapest Concert Orchestra Mav performed a Musical Tribute.

Carl Lutz helped 62,000 Jews to survive.

Photo: The British Legation Building Budapest, in the cellar of which Carl Lutz lived for two months.

Carl Lutz helped 62,000 Jews to survive. In his function as chief of the Swiss Legation's Department of Foreign Interests in Budapest, he issued tens of thousands of “protection letters” and offered many Jewish refugees a shelter in houses under Swiss Protection. As an engaged Christian, Carl Lutz felt he had to protect these people. Between May 15 and July 9 1944, Hungarian Jews from the countryside were deported, of them 437,402 people died in Auschwitz. Carl Lutz, (b. 1895) the Swiss vice-consul in Budapest from 1942 to 1945, was the first neutral diplomat in Budapest to rescue Jews during the Second World War. He is credited with instituting the schutzbrief, a protective letter which applied to many Jewish refugees. During his tenure, he issued more that 60,000 such live-saving documents, and established seventy-six Swiss protective houses throughout Budapest for holders of these letters. Additionally, he helped 10,000 Jewish children flee to Palestine. With Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish Diplomat, he liberated Jews from deportation centers, thus saving them from brutal death marches.

 

This event was part of Swisspeaks ‘05, an initiative to bring the best of contemporary Switzerland to New York in a wide variety of events in the arts, business, education, and lifestyle that express Switzerland's modernity, diversity and creativity. www.swissspeaks.org The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation is a non-profit organization, aimed at promoting peace among nations and people, as well as developing educational projects based on concepts of solidarity, dialogue and understanding while rendering homage, promoting the message and remembering the actions of all those Heroes of the Holocaust, who like Raoul Wallenberg, risked their lives to save persecuted people during World War II. www.raoulwallenberg.net Park East Synagogue is located at 164 East 68th Street (Between Lexington and 3rd Avenue), New York, New York 10021. For more information, email Daniela Bajar at daniela@irwf.org

A typical crowd of Jews waiting in front of the office at Vadàsz utca begging for protection.

 

The laws of life are stronger, than man-made regulations
 

Photo: The queues in front of the "Glass House" were often very long.

Vice-Consul Carl Lutz arrived in Budapest in early 1942. As chief of the Swiss Legation's Department of Foreign Interests in Budapest he was in charge of the interests of 14 nations at war, among them the United States and Great Britain. His main offices were situated in the American Legation at Szabadsàg tér in Pest. He cared among his duties he cared for 300 Americans, 300 English nationals, 2000 Romanians and 3000 Yugoslavs who were stranded in Hungary. When the Germans occupied Hungary, March 19, 1944 persecution of the Jews grew very severe. Thousands seeking his protection besieged his offices every day. As an engaged Christian, Charles Lutz felt, he had to protect these people. At that time he had already helped 10'000 Jewish children and young people to emigrate to Palestine. He cared for refugee Jews who had come to Hungary from many nations and for Hungarian Jews who were within British and Palestine jurisdiction. On May 15, when deportations the Auschwitz began, Lutz decided to place the staff of the Jewish Council for Palestine under his diplomatic protection an to rename it the "Department of Emigration of the Swiss Legation". For this stupendous task a special relief organization had to be created. With the aid of volunteers Lutz increased his staff from 15 to 150. Taking advantage of the fact that neither Edmund Veesenmayer, Hitlers proconsul in Hungary, nor the Sztojay government had formally challenged the right of 8000 people to emigrate to Palestine, Lutz kept "negotiating" with the German and Hungarian authorities. In the process he changed his objective. He wanted to save as many Jewish lives as possible. As a ruse he and his staff started to issue tens of thousands of additional "protective letters", even thought these were no more backed by any Palestine Certificates. In order to hide the new approach, Lutz was careful of always using numbers 1 to 8000 and never to go beyond these. Each 1000 names were grouped together into one Swiss Collective Passport. This meant that the applicants stood under formal Swiss protection. As the Hungarian authorities insisted on concentrating all remaining Budapest Jews in one large getto, Lutz established 76 Swiss protected houses. The inhabitants of these houses were precariously fed and helped out of the Consulate meager financial and material resources. Meanwhile the young Jewish Chalutzim (pioneers) provided communication with the Jewish Community and the underground. In 1941 about 742'800 Jews lived in Hungary. In Budapest about 150'000 survived. Between May 15 and July 9 437 402 people died in Auschwitz. Carl Lutz helped 62'000 Jews to survive..."Official" Switzerland did not acknowledge his valor for a long time. Carl Lutz was accused to having exceeded his competence, and he even had problems in continuing his diplomatic career. Carl Lutz died on March 30, 1975 at the age of 80 in Berne.  Carl Lutz was one of the first to receive the "Righteous among the Nations" medal from Yad Vashem, his name was entered in the Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund. In Jaffa (Israel) and Berne (Switzerland) a street is named after him. Budapest honored him by a statue and 1999 Switzerland by issuing a postage stamp