ST. LOUIS — Carl Lutz's life is a remarkable story of perseverance and strength in the face of horror and evil.
Lutz is credited with saving tens of thousands of lives in the Holocaust.
Lutz worked for years in Granite City, Illinois, and worked in St. Louis as a Swiss consul before the war. Read more about his story here.
Note: Carl Lutz's story is featured in our special program, Race: Listen. Learn. Live. Fighting Antisemitism. Watch the special here.
RELATED: He saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews in the Holocaust. You've probably never heard of him.
Lutz gave diplomatic protection to thousands of people with papers of protection.
Lutz recalled his actions and motivations in a report in 1949.
"As a Christian, whom I always sought to be not only by name, I held the responsibility and in my position as a commander of conscience to find my way to help these thousands condemned to death," he wrote.
His report documents the liberties he took to spare the lives of innocents. This report, provided and translated by the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, says he was granted permission to save "5,000 units," which he deliberately interpreted to mean 5,000 families. This allowed him to protect thousands more people than perhaps authorities intended.
"The laws of life are stronger than human laws," Lutz wrote. Lutz died in 1975.
Read the report in its original German language here. The English translation by Lisa Johnson is below. Numbers indicate pages in the original letter.
Charles Lutz
Swiss Consul
Zurich, February 24, 1949
48 Kirchgasse
Litigation Councilor,
In the attachment, I respectfully outline for you my report on what happened at our embassy in Budapest. I hope it meets with your approval. You will see from this write-up that the tasks we needed to carry out were extremely complicated, and the physical exertion took a great deal of wear and tear on the nerves.
Since I spent the entire war in unrest and in war zones, I would be grateful to you, out of consideration for my health, if you would consider me for a post in southern Germany or Austria if there were to be a vacancy.
I give you, Mr. Legation Councilor, the assurance of my greatest respect.
C. Lutz
1 supplement
cc. Legation Councilor J. Rossat
Head of the Department for Administrative Affairs, Federal Political Department
Bern
1
Assigned by my superior Bohörde to look after the interests of the citizens of 12 countries in Hungary, on January 2, 1942, I began as head of the Swiss Protection Department embassy in Budapest. I organized the department in the building of the American embassy at Szabadság tér, where I had a staff of well-trained, multilingual officials, some of whom were Swiss citizens. Until the invasion of the German army in March 1944, service and life were almost normal, despite the blackout. On March 18, everything changed suddenly. The advance guard of the Himmler shock troops, headed by (Adolf) Eichmann, the Lieutenant Colonel of the SS, moved in with the German army. The Nuremberg Laws were applied to the Jewish inhabitants, which is to say, all Jews of Budapest were concentrated in Jewish houses and the yellow star had to be worn. The Jews of Budapest and Hungary, who actually formed the last group of the Jewish population in Eastern Europe and believed they were safe in Hungary, were gripped by an immense panic. I became aware of this when the next morning several thousands of frightened people had gathered in front of my office, begging for protection. Precisely because we were the greatest protecting power and owned a number of foreign embassy buildings, Switzerland had long been on everyone's lips as a neutral place among the people of Budapest. Most of them were Hungarian citizens, which almost ruled out any protection by a foreign power through diplomatic channels. But the laws of life are stronger than human laws. The rush in front of my office building became bigger and more vehement every day, because Eichmann had already started the deportations from the Hungarian province to the extermination camps in Poland. At that time people still spoke of labor camps. A dozen trains rode east every day. The people did not dare say what they suspected. Now they started to migrate back from the province to Budapest because thousands of Jews had taken refuge in rural areas in the hope of being able to go into hiding better with or without forged papers, which disguised them as Christians, and thus to wait for the end of the war.
2
The situation had indeed become very serious. I was constantly bothered by the question of how I could help people without becoming persona non grata with the accredited government. Together with Moshe Krausz, whom I was able to exempt from labor service on several occasions, and who was the head of the Palestinian emigration office in Budapest for many years, I then found a legal way of being able to somehow hold up a protective hand over the ever-growing masses. The time was unfavorable to draw up a large-scale 'war plan'. For a long time, Hungary had only considered itself to be an ally of Germany on paper. Now it had suddenly become Germany's comrade in arms. The hostile mentality and the laws of war no longer knew any considerations. The front drew closer, and the Jews, as enemies of Germany, had to be concentrated somehow, according to military considerations 'secured', as the then German envoy (Edmund) Veesenmeyer explained to me, so that they -- there were about a million Jews in Hungary at the time -- did not fall in the back of the fighting force. The air raids on Budapest became understandably more numerous with the entry of German troops. Individual bombers had already appeared over the city without sounding any alarms. I did not have the time to devote myself to the new task, which was purely humanitarian, and I never received an assignment, from either the Swiss or the Jewish side. My task was to protect the interests of the hostile citizens in Hungary, which required ever greater attention as the war approached its climax. Together with Moshe Krausz, I considered the plan to try to protect all those Jews who had the desire and the intention to emigrate to Palestine, because Palestine was still a British mandate - I was there when the war broke out - and so on if my plan was based at least on British interests, it was to a certain extent within the scope of my assignment foreign interests.
3
It was still a purely theoretical intention. How to put this into practice was the big problem. The foreign interests, the conferences in the Hungarian Foreign Ministry and with Minister Jaeger, took up all of my time. But the hundreds of thousands wanted to live and had closed their ears to objective arguments. It was total war, not peace, and every day could bring thousands of people away from Budapest. The Jews now also committed to harassing the Swedish embassy and the papal nunciature (the papal nunzius was a shaky old man). Wallenberg was not in Budapest at the time. As a Christian, whom I always sought to be not only by name, I held the responsibility and in my position as a commander of conscience to find my way to help these thousands condemned to death. After careful consideration, I sought an audience with the German ambassador and the Hungarian foreign minister in order to present my plan to be allowed to take care of those Jews who wanted to emigrate to Palestine. This idea was apparently passed on to Berlin for consideration. For six weeks I negotiated with various government offices. The Jewish consultant at the German legation suggested to me that it might be enough to release a certain "contingent", but that certain conditions had to be attached to it. These were mainly within the competencies of the Hungarian government. As soon as it showed its willingness to release 100,000 "loan Jews" for labor service in Germany, they would be ready to provide a contingent of 5,000 units for protection. What was decided in Berlin to solve the Jewish question in Hungary was of course not known to an outsider at the time. The negotiations continued into the summer. In the meantime, the Jews were remanded into so-called Jewish houses, whereby, as already mentioned, everyone had to wear the yellow stars. They were only allowed to use the streets to buy groceries. The panic grew every day. Eichmann had set up his headquarters on the Schwabenberg. At the time, the Horthy government was still in power. There were milder and more extreme elements among them. Every day the embassy, the department of Foreign Interests, was besieged by large masses.
4
The Jewish Council wrote to me asking not to abandon the Jews of Budapest. Good advice was expensive. The Swiss envoy, to whom I described the situation, gave me blank authority to take such measures which would ensure protection for at least some of the Jews.
The moderate elements gradually left their posts, and their places were taken by people who were more hostile to communists than pro-German. They saw the Jews as friends of the Communists and Soviets and were therefore willing to give in to the German urge to give in to a few thousand chosen 'working Jews'. The time had now come when my request was granted to take care of those Jews who wanted to emigrate to Palestine. However, these would have to be in possession of a migration emigration pass, on the basis of which they could then receive a so-called letter of protection, which confirmed that they were listed in the emigration pass. The creation of this passport that 'Swiss collective passports' presented considerable difficulties, even if numerous volunteers were available to help. In addition to personal details, this also requires photos of the people who were locked in the Jewish houses, along with the paperwork. My idea was to create collective passes for 1,000 people each. A group of 50 young Jews from our Vadász utca (street) office building with bicycles make themselves available - partly in uniform - to collect personal details and photos. In some cases, entry into the houses was even enforced by pretending to be Nylas. In laborious night work, four passports were prepared, which are now historical documents. During the day it was not possible to work quietly because the offices were crammed with 'visitors'. At night, too, a large number of people sneaked into the workrooms of the protecting power department because they thought they were safe there because at that time gangs of the young Arrow Cross were hanging out on the streets to take away Jews. Every night the intercepted people from the Danube were threatened by gunfire. Action now had to be taken quickly. After a long conversation, I was granted permission to issue a so-called letter of protection to every Jew whose name was on the passport, but at first, these were not recognized everywhere by the police or the military authorities.
5
Therefore, I asked for an order to be given over the radio that Swiss letters of protection were to be respected by all government bodies. My request was granted by the government with the result that the next morning a massive crowd had gathered in front of my offices, so that mounted police had to pave the way for me. People were literally trying to tear my clothes off. Immediately 5,000 letters of protection were drawn up and stamped with the embassy stamp. However, these were all distributed within a few hours. I took the position that the Hungarian government meant 5,000 units, that is to say, 5,000 families, so a total of about 50,000 people, and approved the issuance of another 45,000 letters, for which I took responsibility. I also toyed with the idea of the Swiss government recognizing the Arrow Cross members.
I was aware of the fact that I was walking on a volcano every hour of the day, because Lt. Col. Eichmann had verbally informed me that no Jew had left Budapest alive, so that my labor of love would be in vain. But I trusted in a higher power. I found myself under an avalanche that threatened to crush me.
The Hungarian government now requested a list of protected Jews, the request of which was granted, but this list was not in alphabetical order. I was aware that the letters of protection alone did not offer sufficient protection.
At that time (around July 1944) Wallenberg came to Budapest with a letter from the King of Sweden to Imperial Administrator Horthy. He visited me on his arrival and asked me to inform him about my rescue operation and to give him the text of our letters of protection so that he could start a similar operation. At the American embassy, where our offices were located, there was already a great lack of space and I saw the urgency to create an alternative, which was found in a glass house on Vadász utca (street).
6
The new section was called “Emigration Department of the Swiss Embassy. " Within two days, around 2,000 people had settled there. The letters of protection were also issued there. After all, this new building diverted the rush from the actual protecting power department and those under the official protection of our offices.
At the beginning of October, the Hungarian army capitulated; Horthy himself resigned. The Hungarian Arrow Cross, with Salaszi at its head, took over the government. The situation changed suddenly on that day. Deportations of entire camps in the environs of Budapest to the east were accelerated. Eichmann boasted that in a short time, 600,000 people from the Hungarian provinces were sent to the "labor camps" in Auschwitz and similar places. The deportations of the Jewish population of Budapest could begin any day.
In the meantime, the Swiss government had withdrawn the envoy because it refused to recognize the new Arrow Cross government. This weakened my hand against the Hungarian government and the German military authorities. I introduced myself to the new government, which asked me to explain to them the extent of the foreign interests. Then I asked for a more effective way of securing the Jews with letters of protection. I mentioned that this would be a gesture to make a good impression on the Swiss government, in case the recognition of the new government was really very important. To enforce this. one promises to make an effort.
I asked the Hungarian government to set aside a group of houses at my disposal to accommodate the Jews under Swiss protection. This wish was actually given in. Around 20,000 Christian residents had to be evacuated within four days, and around 30,000 or more Jews found space in the aforementioned houses. The houses under Swiss protection were provided with appropriate boards. The rush in these houses was naturally extremely large.
7
Moshe Krausz undertook it with a staff of loyal employees to provide for the catering of the people quartered in the 'Swiss houses.'
Soon the approved 50,000 letters of protection were also out of print, and a thousand people outside our gates were still pleading for such life-saving certificates. I couldn't possibly have exceeded the quota without inciting the wrath of the authorities and endangering the whole operation. Jewish centers soon formed to forge letters of protection and to distribute and sell them by the thousands. The Hungarian authorities soon became aware of this and threatened to take all Jews into custody. I protested and promised to personally help sort out the good and bad letters of protection. But that was a heartbreaking task, for the non-recognition of such a certificate was tantamount to a death sentence for the holder because their lives were forfeited. For example, I will never forget the scene where my wife and I spent a few hours signing a few hundred letters of safety in the courtyard of a brick factory. Trembling and fearful people stood in line in front of us. Another scene took place in Istvan Park, where a sighting was also recorded. It was there where, in the midst of thousands of spectators, a nylas pressed the revolver on my chest, "because I had no business here," whereupon I immediately called the cabinet chief Bagossy, who then had the culprit arrested. In the meantime, the front was moving ever closer. Conference agreements could usually no longer be kept due to the increasing air raids.
I was repeatedly urged by Foreign Minister Kemeny, who was later executed, to recognize his "government". "The decision had to wait a little longer because our foreign minister was recognized" -- later -- "that the courier with the certificate of recognition was probably stuck in Vienna, etc," I answered him. We also delayed making an alphabetical list of the Jews in our hands and asked for a week. My nerves were already badly affected because there was no more opportunity to eat or sleep.
It should be said that there were constant requests for further protective papers, the establishment of hospitals for sick people and weekends, individual interventions, Swiss flags, armbands with the Swiss cross, food, etc.
8
For me, it was a great satisfaction to know that the action I had initiated was respected by the authorities and, with a few exceptions, no encroachments on the part of the nylas occurred. Let me tell you one episode that best sheds light on the situation at the time. One night, around 11 p.m., a caretaker called me that around 100 people in his house were suffocating because the doors and windows had been nailed shut. I immediately asked the Head of Cabinet Bagossy to come with me, which he did. After an adventurous journey, shortly before an air raid, we reached the house and released the people locked in, some of whom were already unconscious on the floor, from the boarded-up room and transferred them to another apartment. When we arrived at 6 a.m. the next morning with tea and bread, everyone had unfortunately already been taken away. It should be noted that these were Jews who were not under Swiss protection. Several times, smaller groups tried to break into Vadacs and Wekerle Sandor utca, but our loyal police repeatedly managed to keep them away.
The front advanced further; the chaos in Budapest grew ever greater. In November, the government moved to Cedenburg and asked us to follow them. I refused and was threatened with deprivation of diplomatic rights. One morning a functionary of the German legation advised me of their imminent departure. This meant that Budapest would soon become a theater of war. The diplomat replied, "I am entrusting him with a military secret - the city will not be defended so that the German troops will withdraw."
What would become of the protective power derivation, the officials and the inmates of the "Swiss houses," was my anxious question. The German diplomat, von Stresemann's secretary at the time, revealed to me that the Nylas had promised at his request not to disturb the "Swiss houses" as long as I stayed in Budapest. I did this at the request of the German embassy in recognition of (3 consulates and 4 internment camps). Then I decided to stay.
9
However, Hitler later gave orders to defend the city tenaciously and for a long time. As a result, we got into a 3-month struggle --from Christmas to the beginning of March. This time in the damp and cold air raid shelter of the British legation at the Fischer bastion remains unforgettable. The street battles raged around us. In the end, we ran out of both food and water. Our 60-room building, in which our 25 people shared a common fate, received 21 bomb hits. We spent two days and two nights under the burning building, which was set in flames by incendiary bombs. All of this while we endured starving and freezing in the basement, waiting every moment that a 4-meter-away gasoline tank could blow up, which of course would have been our end. That almost all my furniture went up in flames should only be mentioned in passing.
But not enough horror. Shortly after the conquest of the city, we had to endure the Russian Malinovsky penalty troops, for whom the population was declared outlawed for 10 days. Those were fearful nights, where people were constantly tormented and harassed by the drunken soldiers’ glares. I was supposed to pay with my life for an alleged sabotage on one of our cars when a Russian officer turned his revolver at me, and I could only escape his shots by quickly escaping from an emergency access to the bunker.
After an adventurous trip to my offices in an overloaded little boat across the Danube, I found that the protected houses had remained untouched and that most of the Jews living there had survived the battle that lasted only two weeks in Budapest.
Unfortunately, we were unable to wait for the Allied diplomatic mission to arrive in order to return our interests, because after only 10 days a Russian officer asked us to prepare for the journey within 24 hours in order to start our journey home via Bucharest to Istanbul which took place at the beginning of April. It was a very adventurous and dangerous journey.
10
Accompanied by 6 Russians armed with submachine guns, our 70 people, including papal Nunzius with his entourage, arrived in Istanbul six days after the escort had threatened to divert the train to Russia if Turkey refused entry.
From Istanbul, the trip continued with the swim vest tied on with the steamer "Drottningholm" to Lisbon, from there via Madrid to Barcelona and Geneva. This is how the Odyssey of Budapest ended for us.
C. Lutz