Charles Lutz, a wartime Consul General for Switzerland in Budapest, who risked his life to save thousands of Jews from the Nazi gas chambers, was honored here for his services to Hungarian Jewry.
His services were lauded by representatives of the American Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency at a dinner given in his honor. Attending the event were Moshe Partur, Israel’s permanent representative to the European office of the United Nations in Geneva; Charles H. Jordan, JDC director general; Eban Laor, Jewish Agency representative for Europe; and Tibor Rosenbaum, director of Helvis.
As Swiss Consul General, Mr. Lutz issued from 1943 to 1945 protective letters to thousands of Jews, thus delaying their deportation by Gestap o Colonel Adolf Eichmann until they were liberated by the Allied forces. When all diplomatic and Consular missions, except Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish Consul General, left Budapest, Mr. Lutz remained. At the risk of his life, he waived diplomatic regulations to save the lives of Hungarian Jews. A sum of money was contributed in his name to be used to aid rescue activities for Jews throughout the world.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
