By LES GLASSMAN, LARRY PFEFFERLarry Pfeffer, Agnes Hirschi and Les Glassman(photo credit: LES GLASSMAN)
When we think of the Holocaust and the kind, resourceful and brave people who risked and sacrificed so much in order to save Jews, which names come to mind? People such as Raoul Wallenberg, Oscar Schindler and Chiune Sugihara.To most people, Carl Lutz, the Swiss diplomat in Budapest, who was “recognized” long ago by Yad Vashem and other organizations and who even appears on an Israeli stamp, is hardly known.This is surprising considering all the Holocaust events, programs, education, books, movies and even tours to death camps in Poland.After all, Lutz (1895-1975) risked his career and life to protect tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazi and Hungarian Nyilas (Arrow Cross) murderers. According to Yad Vashem, Lutz – the Swiss Vice Consul to Hungary – was responsible for saving some 62,000 Jews from Nazi death camps over a three-year period, from 1942 to 1945.Carl LutzDue to his courageous actions, almost half of the Jewish population of Budapest survived and were not deported to Nazi camps. When Raoul Wallenberg arrived, Lutz shared his experience issuing protective papers and saving Jews.He placed many houses in Budapest under Swiss protection, including the legendary “Glass House,” where about 3,000 Jews found shelter, and which became the Zionist youth rescue underground headquarters. It is located at 29 Vadász Street, near the Danube River and the Parliament.We were privileged to have met in Tel Aviv recently with the daughter of Carl Lutz, Agnes Hirschi, who was visiting from her home in Switzerland to attend an important event at the University of Haifa about Jewish refugees in Switzerland. Whereas the Swiss government’s actions toward Jewish refugees were deplorable, there were some Jews who found a safe haven in Switzerland. Hirschi tirelessly labors to keep Lutz’s legacy alive.An important Jewish principle is “recognition of kindness” (hakarat hatov). At Holocaust events, it is obligatory to say, “One person can make a difference,” and to quote from the Talmud: “He who saved one has saved a whole world.”In the case of the rare few like Lutz, “He who saved tens of thousands saved tens of thousands of worlds.”
We must never forget the horrible atrocities of the Holocaust and it is incumbent upon us also to remember the names and very important deeds of people such as Lutz, Wallenberg and Sugihara as well as Aristides de Sousa Mendes, George Mantello, Papal Nuncio Angelo Rotta, Giorgio Perlasca and some 80 additional diplomats who saved many Jews.We must also remember the “Jewish Wallenbergs” – El Salvador’s First Secretary in Switzerland George Mantello (Mandel), who stopped the trains from Hungary to Auschwitz, Hillel Kook (aka Peter Bergson) in America, Gisi Fleischmann and Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl in Bratislava, Recha and Yitzchak Sternbuch in Switzerland, Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld in England and Wilfrid Israel in Germany, England and Portugal – people whose activism led to the rescue of hundreds of thousands.The names of Lutz and those above should be known to all Jews and others who care about decency, bravery and heroism. They were beacons in the dark and are authentic role models whom we should all try to emulate.Yad Vashem has a slogan: “Remembering the Past, Shaping the Future.” Its corollary is equally significant: “Misremembering the Past, Misshaping the Future.”There is a very small sign without a photograph about Carl Lutz at the Yad Vashem museum with the following text: “One collective passport (Schutzpass) issued by the Swiss consulate in Budapest, headed by Karl Lutz, for Jews who were candidates for immigration to the Land of Israel. In the passport, the consulate certifies that these Jews are under Swiss protection until their departure for the Land. In order to provide protection to as many Jews as possible, Lutz gave these approvals to families instead of individuals, and thus the collective passports covered 50,000 Jews.”Agnes Hirschi at the University of Haifa in MarchTo the right of the sign, there are a Swiss protection paper and a large notice about the Relief and Rescue Committee and the controversial Dr. Rudolf Kasztner, with his picture.At the bottom is a small photograph of the Glass House with the following text: “Jewish people in Budapest, swarming to the Glass House, in the hope of obtaining protective passes, known as Schutzpasses. Underground operatives working in the building distributed papers and provided refuge for thousands of Jewish people. 1944.”A personal note by Larry Pfeffer: I was a very small child in Budapest in 1944-5. My father, Armin Pfeffer, found refuge for a while in the now legendary Glass House. I am very grateful to my mother and also to the Christian family who hid me for a while at great risk in the Buda part of Budapest, to Carl Lutz on a personal level, as well as to Raoul Wallenberg and more than 20 diplomats, who saved so many of us in Hungary.
