Carl Lutz (1895-1975)
In this section I wish to acknowledge two few people who have not received adequate recognition for their tireless work:
Gertrud Lutz-Fankhauser (1911-1995) - read here
Carl Lutz (1895–1975) - below
”Whoever saves a single life is considered to have saved the whole world.” Talmud
To the memory of all those who, under the leadership of Carl Lutz, Swiss Consul, saved thousands under Nazi persecution in 1944.
General Meeting of the Carl Lutz Foundation of Switzerland in Budapest, 1991
Translated by AMPT
According to historian Xavier Cornut, Carl Lutz led the “largest rescue operation of World War II.”
It is estimated that Lutz and his team of rescuers issued more than 50,000 lifesaving letters of protection (Schutzbrief) and placed persecuted Jews in 76 safe houses (Schutzhause) and the 3 annexes of the Swiss Legation. These actions were the precursors of similar actions by diplomats of neutral states, including Raoul Wallenberg.
Unless otherwise indicated, the following material is drawn from Theo Tschuy’s book:
Tschuy Theo, (2002) Dangerous diplomacy; The story of Carl Lutz Rescuer of 62,000 Hungarian Jews; Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand the events in Budapest. Despite its thorough content, it is an easy read. It is the primary book I suggested to my grandson, Aaron, before he undertook his research trip to Hungary in June 2023.
Palestine - Precursor to Budapest
In January 1935 he married Berne Gertrud Frankhauser and that very same evening departed unexpectedly on a mission to Jaffa, in Palestine.
When war broke out in 1939, Germany asked Switzerland to represent its interests in the region and Carl was promoted Vice-Consul. At that time, assisted only by his wife, he dealt with the destiny of some 2500 German nationals [repatriating them and their assets to Germany at the beginning of WWII] and managed property assets worth 25 million pounds sterling … The efficacy with which he performed his duties earned him the congratulations of the German minister for foreign affairs [Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893–1946)].
He also assisted German Jews who feared returning to their home country. He then introduced "Schutz passes," or protective papers produced by the British, which granted their holders exile in Palestine.
Budapest - 1942-1945
Carl Lutz arrived in Budapest in 1942. He took care of American, British, and other foreign citizens or dual nationals who were left stranded in Hungary after the outbreak of the war.
Above all, he [Carl Lutz] cooperated with the Budapest office of the Jewish Agency of Palestine in providing protective letters and immigration papers to Jewish children and young people, who had sought safety in Hungary, but whom the Chalutzim wanted to get out. …[Lutz has helped] hundreds if not thousands of children and young people [to reach] Palestine. Among Budapest Jews, Carl Lutz was a household name. He [Rafi Friedl] had heard that both the consul and his equally remarkable wife, Gertrud, had always taken the time to see the children off from the Danube pier, when, about once a week, a train or a boat was about to leave. (Tschuy, pp 7-8)
With Lutz’s help, 10,000 Jewish children and young people have already left Hungary on their way to Palestine. Immigration permits have been obtained for 8,000 more.
The SCHUTZPASS was a protective passport. The bearer enjoyed the full protection of Switzerland.
19 March 1944
Following the occupation, after meeting with the German high officials, Carl Lutz took immediate action:
He gave Swiss protective passports to the leadership of the Jewish Agency of Palestine, so that they could move freely about Budapest, formally on his behalf, in semi-official capacity, but in reality for the “illegal “Palestine Office.
He changed the name of the Budapest office of the Jewish Agency to the Emigration Department of the Swiss legation. (Tschuy, p 66)
Every passing person could see that in the heart of German-occupied Hungary, the Swiss legation was offering emigration services to anyone who cared to leave Nazi-dominated Europe! What he did not say … was that he also attached the Chalutzim to his new emigration department and that he gave them Swiss identity papers. … These courageous young men – and several young women – became his means of communication with the isolated Jewish community, the consuls, eyes and ears. They brought Schutzbriefe discreetly to those who did not dare to visit the council and brought new names of those who wanted to be protected. These Schutzbrief [same purpose as the Schutzpass] were impressive-looking documents. (Tschuy, p 67)
Carl Lutz began to gamble for higher stakes. He soon issued tens of thousands of Schutzbriefe, letters of protection. In the end there would be at least 80,000 of these. He noted that your authorities were becoming suspicious about whether he and his emigration department were really limiting themselves to the eighth thousand “agreed upon“ letters of protection, But they were unable to prove the contrary. Regardless of how many of these documents Lutz issued and signed, they were always numbered from one to 8000, never beyond.… Moreover, in order to provide a better legal guarantee, each letter of protection was entered on a Swiss collective passport, with photographs pasted next to each name. Such collective passports contained 1000 names each. They were deposited in a safe in the consul’s office to which only he had access.(Tschuy, pp 89-90)
The Glass House
Given the conditions, Carl Lutz decided to remove the Emigration Department from the American legation building to a nearby building named the Glass House. It was granted Swiss diplomatic immunity and all employees and files were transferred.
Above the entry hung a large Swiss flag with the white cross in the red field. The Glass House, as extra territorial ground was out of bounds for military or police, and the shiny building became a beehive of activity. (Tschuy, p 157)
The Swiss Embassy’s Emigration Department for Representing Foreign Interest opened on July 24, 1944.
Raoul Wallenberg arrived in Budapest just a few weeks earlier, on July 8, 1944. Carl Lutz was one of the first people he consulted.
It is estimated that the Glass House and its two dependencies ultimately offered safe housing to 3000–4000 persons even though they lived in extremely cluttered quarters. … The emigration department of the Swiss legation on 29 Vadász Street, became one of the great legends in the action to save the Jews of Budapest. (Tschuy, p 158)
The Glass House in Budapest is an international symbol of moral courage. In 1944, under the diplomatic protection of Swiss Vice-Consul Carl Lutz, and with the contribution of Jewish activists, it was thecenter of protection for thousands of people, and of rescue for many more. The Glass House presents the indestructibility of humanity, and the continuity of its prevalence. Its history is an exemplar of honor and bravery. [1]
The Glass House is now a small museum that should be visited and supported in memory of Carl, Gertrude, all staff and volunteers.
The Neutral Diplomats
Carl Lutz, now that he had been confronted with the awful truth [Auschwitz], firsthand, informed the other neutral legations. He had been the first to act on behalf of the Jews ever since 1942 and he had confronted Veesenmayer, Eichmann, and the Hungarian government immediately after the German occupation on March 19, 1944, when he wanted the 8,000 to emigrate. Moreover, he often transmitted notes from the Allied governments to the Hungarian leaders, protesting against the progressive restrictions imposed on the Jewish minority. Lutz was the key person in the resistance of the diplomats against this evil. [my highlight]
It was high time, he felt, that the neutral diplomats addressed a joint protest to the Hungarian authorities, even if they could not easily consult with their home governments in advance. Lutz and Minister Jaeger spoke with the papal nuncio, 72-year-old Archbishop Angelo Rotta. As the senior diplomat in Hungary, … the nuncio was indispensable for any such a démarche. He also enjoyed great prestige. (Tschuy, p 113)
The International ghetto
By midsummer 1944, rumors were rife throughout Budapest on the supposed agreement between Hungarian and German officials for the deportation of all the Jews of Budapest. Few knew that the date was to be August 25. In response to these rumors, and in conversation with the Chalutzim, Carl Lutz came up with the idea of protective houses. He decided “to extend diplomatic immunity to no less than 72 buildings [later increased to 76 buildings], the Schutzhauser; protective houses on Poszonyi [sic] Road. This, too, was a first in diplomatic history. Nothing on that scale had ever been tried. (Tschuy, p 159)
The housing section of the immigration department of the Swiss legation went to work and selected 15,000 persons, above all Schutzbrief holders from the “yellow star” houses, and those who lived in precarious illegitimacy. Those chosen lived henceforth in security, but quarters were terribly cramped. … Two hundred persons were squeezed into each building, fifty or more on each floor. Fortunately, the consul received financial help, bedding, and food through Saly Mayer, the Swiss representative of the Joint Distribution Committee, the relief organization of American Jews. Each building was managed by a Hechalutz, who had a direct telephone line to either the glass house or the consul directly. (Tschuy, p 162)
When Raoul Wallenberg [the envoy from Sweden arrived on 8 July 1944] came to see him, Carl Lutz explained to him the various means by which he tried to help the Jews to survive. “Not long after this conversation with Carl Lutz, Raul Wallenberg obtained 32 Schutzhauser on behalf of Sweden, which were located adjacent to the 72 “Swiss“ houses. A smaller number of buildings were also turned over to the papal nuncio, Angelo Rotta, and to Jorge Perlesca, who represented the Spanish legation, as well as to the Portuguese. (Tschuy, p 170)
The Arrow Cross period
…the Swiss government made a move that seriously weakened the consul’s position vis-à-vis the Arrow Cross authorities. Within days of the Arrow Cross coup, it recalled Minister Jaeger because it wanted to express its open “disapproval“ of the putsch and to question the new government’s legitimacy. (Tschuy, p 185)
A young lawyer, Harald Feller, took over the running of the legation. He stood up to the responsibilities with unwavering courage, and his support of the consul remained steadfast.
… on October 30, 1944, radio stations and the press announced that holders of foreign passports and protective letters were exempt from being drafted into labour service. This was a remarkable victory for the diplomas. But the victory had a price. The numbers of those whom they could officially protect were terribly small, not more than 14,500, not the tens of thousands to whom they had given protective letters already. (Tschuy, p 190)
Hundreds of Schutzbrief holders had already been brought to the brickyards [in Óbuda] and countless identity papers needed to be controlled. For us, this was doubtless the most painful task ever undertaken. At one time my wife [Gertrud] and I stood for hours in snow and ice inside ill-famed Óbuda brickyards, performing this sad business of sorting out Schutzbriefe. [Quote from Lutz inTschuy, p 198]
Those whose papers the Lutz couple [Carl and Gertrud] declared authentic were freed immediately.
The Arrow-Cross remained an undiminished danger to the Swiss consul.… Early in the morning of November 30, the day after the news of the Mohács crossing had come in, Chalutzim in charge of the protective buildings telephoned the consul, who was just sitting down to breakfast at his Buda residence, reporting that Nyilas bands, supported by gendarmes, were attacking the Schutzhauser in large numbers and were dragging people away.
“Carl Lutz called Shluha [the driver] at once, and, again accompanied by Gertrude, along with a Swiss employee of the consulate, rushed to Poszonyi [sic] Road to confront the attackers. When they arrived at Poszonyi [sic] Road, they told the Nyilas to stop troubling the protective houses, that these were international territory, and that the people inside were protected by the Swiss government. (Tschuy, p 205-206)
One night, the Nyilas removed and “disappeared” 300 people from one of the Swiss Schutzhauser. This was the only time that such a disaster befell the consul’s rescue operation, but it tarnished the image of the Swiss Schutzhauser. Lutz was deeply affected by this failure.(Tschuy, p 211-212)
Lutz used this incident to negotiate an increase in the Swiss Schutzhauser from 72 to 76 as well as the increase of the permitted inhabitants from 15,000 to 17,000, calculating that each building would house 200 people. As many as 30,000 people were squeezed in, placing enormous strain on food and fuel supplies. When 25,000 residents of the Swiss Schutzhauser had to be transferred to the large ghetto, “within a short time occupancy was back again at the level of 17,000, at which it remained until the end of fighting in Pest, in mid-January 1945. (Tschuy, p 213)
In the meanwhile, Lutz secured the right to unlimited access to the large ghetto by day or by night. He and his staff would supervise the general condition of the 25,000 and supply them with food and medication. (Tschuy, p 213) The other neutral diplomats were also forced to transfer some of “their” Jews to the large ghetto, but received the same access as those granted to Carl Lutz.
On Christmas Eve, after visiting the great synagogue and the large ghetto, Carl Lutz returned to his residence in Buda, in the former British legation. On December 26, all the residents, including 50 Jews, moved into the basement cellar. They stayed there for seven weeks, surviving on Gertrud’s “shopping trip” to Biske.
The Soviet occupation forces did not allow consul Lutz to go back to his office at the American legation. Neither was he permitted to wind up the affairs of his vast Department of Foreign Representations. He could not even explain his Jewish rescue action to the Soviet commander. In a primitive, third class compartment he, Gertrude, lots, Angelo Rota, and others were sent by train to Istanbul. (Tschuy, p 257)
Eventually, Carl and Gertrude Lutz reached Switzerland.
As I see it
I want to express my gratitude to Carl Lutz and Gertrud Lutz-Frankhauser for our survival. I was astounded that I had not heard of them and that it took this research to learn about their achievements. Before this “discovery,” I always thought of Wallenberg as my hero, but now he shares that distinction with Carl Lutz, Gertrud Lutz-Frankhauser, and the other diplomats who assisted in the survival of the Jews of Budapest.
Carl Lutz, Gertrud Lutz-Frankhauser, and the staff of the Swiss legation carried out their hazardous work without any support from the Swiss authorities. They followed their conscience and led the way for an admirable group of people and organizations.
It is tragic that neither Carl Lutz nor Gertrud Lutz-Frankhauser received any recognition from the Swiss government for their heroic work until many years later when it was “safe.”
I wish for
An English translation of Carl Lutz und die Juden von Budapest (German Edition) by Theo Tschuy, published in 1995. This is an academic book based on his research, with an index and references.
Access to the “Research papers of Theo Tschuy (1925-2003), a Swiss theologian. Theo Tschuy collected research materials related to his book about Carl Lutz, "Carl Lutz und die Juden von Budapest.” This German-language documents has been digitalized but is not downloadable at this writing. An English translation is not available.
Source: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn47977