Carl Lutz
Encyclopedia
Carl Lutz was the Swiss
Vice-Consul in Budapest
, Hungary
from 1942 until the end of World War II
. He helped save tens of thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi Extermination camps during the Holocaust
. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews. In 1964, he was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations
by Yad Vashem
.
to earn money for college, and started his studies at Central Wesleyan College
in Warrenton, Missouri
.
In 1920, Lutz found a job at the Swiss Legation in Washington, DC. He continued his education there at George Washington University
, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1924. During his time in Washington, DC, Lutz lived in Dupont Circle
. He continued to work for the Swiss Legation.
In 1934 Lutz left the United States after more than 20 years. He was assigned as vice-consul to the Swiss Consulate General in Jaffa
, in what was then Palestine
. He served there until 1942.
, Hungary
, Lutz soon began cooperating with the Jewish Agency for Palestine
. He issued Swiss safe-conduct documents that enabled almost 10,000 Hungarian Jewish children to emigrate.
Once the Nazis took over Budapest in 1944, they began deporting Jews to the death camps. Lutz negotiated a special deal with the Hungarian government and the Nazis. He gained permission to issue protective letters to 8,000 Hungarian Jews for emigration to Palestine.
Lutz deliberately used his permission for 8,000 as applying to families rather than individuals, and proceeded to issue tens of thousands of additional protective letters, all of them bearing a number between one and 8,000. He also set up some 76 "safe houses" around Budapest, declaring them annexes of the Swiss legation and thus off-limits to Hungarian forces or Nazi soldiers. Among the safe houses was the now well-known "Glass House
" (Üvegház) at Vadász Street 29. About 3,000 Hungarian Jews found refuge at the Glass House and in a neighboring building.
Together with other diplomats of neutral countries, such as Raoul Wallenberg
, appointed at the Swedish
embassy; Angelo Rotta
, the Apostolic nuncio of the Vatican
; Angel Sanz Briz
, the Spanish Minister; later followed by Giorgio Perlasca
, an Italian businessman working at the Spanish embassy; and Friedrich Born
, the Swiss delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross
, Lutz worked relentlessly for many months to prevent the planned deaths of innocent people. He and his colleagues dodged the actions of their German and Hungarian counterparts. Thanks to his diplomatic skills, Lutz succeeded in persuading Hungarian and Nazi-German officials, among them Adolf Eichmann
, to tolerate, at least in part, his formal protection of Hungarian Jews.
The Swiss Minister, Maximilian Jaeger
, supported Lutz thoroughly until his departure at his government orders as the Soviet Army approached. In the last weeks before the Red Army
took the city, Lutz was greatly helped by Harald Feller
, who took over responsibility of the Swiss legation after Jaeger's departure. Lutz's wife Trudi notably played a central supporting role during the whole period of her husband's activities in Budapest
.
Lutz died in Bern, Switzerland, in 1975.
, however, his achievements were not immediately recognized in Switzerland. Soon after the war, he had first been criticized by the government for having exceeded his authority, as officials were fearful of endangering Switzerland's neutral status. In 1958, as part of Swiss national rethinking of the war years, Lutz was "rehabilitated" in terms of public reputation, and his achievements were honored.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
Vice-Consul in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
from 1942 until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He helped save tens of thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi Extermination camps during the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews. In 1964, he was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
by Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
.
Early life and education
Lutz was born in Walzenhausen, Switzerland in 1895 and attended local schools. He immigrated at the age of 18 to the United States, where he was to live and work for more than 20 years. He worked in IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
to earn money for college, and started his studies at Central Wesleyan College
Central Wesleyan College
Central Wesleyan College was a private college sponsored by the Methodist Church in Warrenton, Missouri from 1864 to 1941.-History:The college has its roots in the German and English College founded in 1854 in Quincy, Illinois, to train ministers for the German Methodist Episcopal Church...
in Warrenton, Missouri
Warrenton, Missouri
Warrenton is a city in Warren County, Missouri, United States. The population was estimated at 7,398 in 2008. It is the county seat of Warren County. Warrenton is located in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. Warrenton's slogan is "A City for All Seasons."-Geography:Warrenton is located...
.
In 1920, Lutz found a job at the Swiss Legation in Washington, DC. He continued his education there at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1924. During his time in Washington, DC, Lutz lived in Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW...
. He continued to work for the Swiss Legation.
Diplomatic career
In 1926 Lutz was appointed as chancellor at the Swiss Consulate in Philadelphia. He next was assigned to the Swiss Consulate in St. Louis, and served in total from 1926 to 1934 in the two cities.In 1934 Lutz left the United States after more than 20 years. He was assigned as vice-consul to the Swiss Consulate General in Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
, in what was then Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. He served there until 1942.
Actions during World War II
Appointed in 1942 as Swiss vice-consul in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Lutz soon began cooperating with the Jewish Agency for Palestine
Jewish Agency for Israel
The Jewish Agency for Israel , also known as the Sochnut or JAFI, served as the organization in charge of immigration and absorption of Jews from the Diaspora into the state of Israel.-History:...
. He issued Swiss safe-conduct documents that enabled almost 10,000 Hungarian Jewish children to emigrate.
Once the Nazis took over Budapest in 1944, they began deporting Jews to the death camps. Lutz negotiated a special deal with the Hungarian government and the Nazis. He gained permission to issue protective letters to 8,000 Hungarian Jews for emigration to Palestine.
Lutz deliberately used his permission for 8,000 as applying to families rather than individuals, and proceeded to issue tens of thousands of additional protective letters, all of them bearing a number between one and 8,000. He also set up some 76 "safe houses" around Budapest, declaring them annexes of the Swiss legation and thus off-limits to Hungarian forces or Nazi soldiers. Among the safe houses was the now well-known "Glass House
Glass House (Budapest)
During the Holocaust, the Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz helped Jews in Budapest in many ways, including protection at the legendary Glass House . At one time, about 3,000 Jews found refuge at the Glass House and in a neighboring building from large numbers of Hungarian fascist, antisemitic murderers and...
" (Üvegház) at Vadász Street 29. About 3,000 Hungarian Jews found refuge at the Glass House and in a neighboring building.
Together with other diplomats of neutral countries, such as Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
, appointed at the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
embassy; Angelo Rotta
Angelo Rotta
Angelo Rotta , originally from Milan, Italy, was the Apostolic Nuncio in Budapest at the end of World War II.During his previous diplomatic activity in Bulgaria, he already saved many Bulgarian Jews by issuing them baptismal certificates and safe conducts for the trip to Palestine.In 1944 - 1945 he...
, the Apostolic nuncio of the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
; Angel Sanz Briz
Ángel Sanz Briz
Ángel Sanz Briz was a Spanish diplomat during World War II who helped save many Hungarian Jews from Nazi persecution.After studying law, his first diplomatic posting was to Cairo...
, the Spanish Minister; later followed by Giorgio Perlasca
Giorgio Perlasca
Giorgio Perlasca was an Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
, an Italian businessman working at the Spanish embassy; and Friedrich Born
Friedrich Born
Friedrich Born was a Swiss delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Budapest between May 1944 and January 1945, when he had to leave Hungary following orders of the occupying Red Army.He already lived in the Hungarian Capital city before his appointment by the ICRC, working as...
, the Swiss delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
, Lutz worked relentlessly for many months to prevent the planned deaths of innocent people. He and his colleagues dodged the actions of their German and Hungarian counterparts. Thanks to his diplomatic skills, Lutz succeeded in persuading Hungarian and Nazi-German officials, among them Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
, to tolerate, at least in part, his formal protection of Hungarian Jews.
The Swiss Minister, Maximilian Jaeger
Maximilian Jaeger
Maximilian Jaeger was a Swiss Minister in Budapest from 1936 to 1944In 1936, Jaeger was transferred to Budapest, where Switzerland had set up an embassy that year. He was head of the Swiss mission, and was direct supervisor of Carl Lutz. Jaeger played a role in opposing the deportation of Jews by...
, supported Lutz thoroughly until his departure at his government orders as the Soviet Army approached. In the last weeks before the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
took the city, Lutz was greatly helped by Harald Feller
Harald Feller
Harald Feller was a Swiss diplomat who saved Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.He replaced Maximilian Jaeger as head of the Swiss legation in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944. He supported Carl Lutz with the rescue of Jews under Swiss protection...
, who took over responsibility of the Swiss legation after Jaeger's departure. Lutz's wife Trudi notably played a central supporting role during the whole period of her husband's activities in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
.
Lutz died in Bern, Switzerland, in 1975.
Legacy and honors
Lutz saved the lives of tens of thousands of people. As in the case of Paul GrüningerPaul Grüninger
Paul Grüninger was the commander of police in the Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland and a football player....
, however, his achievements were not immediately recognized in Switzerland. Soon after the war, he had first been criticized by the government for having exceeded his authority, as officials were fearful of endangering Switzerland's neutral status. In 1958, as part of Swiss national rethinking of the war years, Lutz was "rehabilitated" in terms of public reputation, and his achievements were honored.
- 1963 a street in HaifaHaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
was named after him. - 1964, Lutz was the first Swiss national named to the list of “Righteous Among the NationsRighteous Among the NationsRighteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
” by Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, the Jewish people’s memorial to the Holocaust. - 1991, a memorial to him was erected at the entrance to the old Budapest ghettoBudapest ghettoThe Budapest Ghetto was a ghetto where Jews were forced to live in Budapest, Hungary during the Second World War.- History :The area consisted of several blocks of the old Jewish quarter of the city surrounding the main synagogue, and was surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that was guarded...
(see photo above).
External links
- 2006 Article on Memorial at U.S. Embassy in Hungary
- Biography
- The Rescuer and His Camera - Photos taken by Carl Lutz - Through the Lens of History - Yad Vashem
- Carl Lutz Foundation, Budapest