{"id":11095,"date":"2026-09-10T19:12:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fokusisrael.ch\/nicht-kategorisiert\/carl-lutz-to-fokusisrael-ch-as-a-christian-the-plight-of-the-jews-was-a-call-of-conscience-for-me\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T18:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T16:07:27","slug":"carl-lutz-to-fokusisrael-ch-as-a-christian-the-plight-of-the-jews-was-a-call-of-conscience-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fokusisrael.ch\/en\/news-en\/carl-lutz-to-fokusisrael-ch-as-a-christian-the-plight-of-the-jews-was-a-call-of-conscience-for-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Carl Lutz to FokusIsrael.ch: \u201cAs a Christian, the plight of the Jews was a call of conscience for me.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

About the Person<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz (born Karl Robert Lutz), a Swiss national, was born on March 30, 1895, in Walzenhausen in the Appenzell Vorderland region. He grew up as one of ten children in a devout Methodist family. After completing a business apprenticeship, Lutz emigrated to the United States in 1913, where he worked and studied; in 1920, he joined the Swiss legation in Washington. In 1935, he married Gertrud Fankhauser; the childless marriage ended in divorce in 1946. From 1935 to 1941, Carl Lutz served at the consulate in Jaffa in the British Mandate of Palestine, where he witnessed Arab-Jewish unrest as well as the plight of German nationals in the British Mandate. In early 1942, Lutz became vice consul in Budapest and head of the Department of Foreign Interests. Among other countries, he represented Great Britain and the United States. Following the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944 and the mass deportations of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz, Carl Lutz organized one of the largest civilian rescue operations of the Holocaust. Using a quota of British Palestine certificates, he issued letters of protection and collective passports, extended them to entire families, and brought tens of thousands under Swiss protection. About 76 buildings, including the famous \u201cGlashaus\u201d on Vad\u00e1sz utca, were turned into safe houses. <\/p>\n\n

According to estimates, Carl Lutz saved about 62,000 people\u2014roughly half of the surviving Jews in Budapest. He negotiated with the pro-German Hungarian Horthy government, Edmund Veesenmayer, and Adolf Eichmann; he rescued Jews from death marches; and on one occasion, he jumped into the Danube to save a woman who had been shot. Switzerland later reprimanded him for exceeding his authority. In 1949, Lutz married the Hungarian Maria Magdalena (\u201cMagda\u201d) Grausz, whom he had protected along with her daughter Agnes; he adopted the girl. In 1964, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem honored him and his first wife, Gertrud, as Righteous Among the Nations. He was also nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Carl Lutz died on February 12, 1975, in Bern. His stepdaughter, Agnes Hirschi, keeps his memory alive. With the help of AI, FokusIsrael.ch spoke with Carl Lutz about his history, his beliefs, his actions, and his relationship with the Jewish people.<\/p>\n\n

By Sacha Wigdorovits<\/p>\n\n

Mr. Lutz, when did you first realize what the fate of the Hungarian Jews was, the ones who were loaded onto the trains?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> When the Germans occupied Hungary in March 1944 and the trains soon began rolling, we saw people being whipped with dog whips, lying in the mud with bloodied faces. That\u2019s when I knew: This isn\u2019t an evacuation\u2014it\u2019s extermination.<\/p>\n\n

Were you already aware beforehand of what the Nazis meant by the \u201cFinal Solution to the Jewish Question\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> I knew about persecution, the yellow star, and forced labor. But the fact that \u201cevacuation to the East\u201d meant gas chambers only hit us with full force in 1944\u2014when the province was emptied and the trains headed for Auschwitz. In June, the Auschwitz protocols reached us. By then, the term \u201cFinal Solution\u201d was no longer an official term\u2014it was murder.<\/p>\n\n

When did you make the decision to help the Jews?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> The decision took shape as the crowds gathered in front of the legation, and I kept asking myself how I could help them without becoming a persona non grata myself. As a Christian\u2014one who didn\u2019t want to be just in name\u2014helping those in need was a moral obligation. <\/p>\n\n

Did your superiors\u2014especially the Swiss government and the Federal Council\u2014know what you were doing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> I acted according to my best judgment, without consulting Bern or receiving support from there. We felt abandoned by the outside world. A Federal Councilor later told me, \u201cYou didn\u2019t have any authority to carry out that rescue operation. The designation \u2018Swiss collective passports\u2019 was considered inadmissible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

What did you say to him?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> I told him, in essence: \u201cThe laws of life are stronger than the laws of men. If someone is drowning, I don\u2019t wait for permission before I save them. If so many countries violate laws in order to kill, one country may violate them in order to save.\u201d I acted according to my conscience, not according to the paperwork. The collective passports were the only means left to protect the persecuted Jews.<\/p>\n\n

After the war, you were even reprimanded by the Swiss authorities for exceeding your authority. How did that affect you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> It felt like a blow. There was no thanks when I returned to Switzerland. Just the question upon entry: \u201cDo you have anything to declare?\u201d Ever since then, two people have lived within me: the humane Swiss man, who is often ashamed of his Swiss identity\u2014and the diplomat condemned to silence. <\/p>\n\n

What was the most difficult and dangerous moment during that time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> I knew I was walking on a volcano every hour. Adolf Eichmann (the man primarily responsible for the extermination of the Hungarian Jews, Ed.) told me that no Jew would leave Budapest alive, that my efforts were in vain. For four hours we stood in the snow and ice at the \u00d3buda brickworks, sorting out letters of protection. Heart-wrenching scenes. Even today, I still ask myself whom we sent to their doom.<\/p>\n\n

How did you finally convince Eichmann to let you go?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> He told me I was speaking like Moses before Pharaoh, but that he was merely his master\u2019s faithful servant. I replied, \u201cHerr Obersturmbannf\u00fchrer, as far as I\u2019m concerned, there are no Jews, Germans, or Swiss\u2014only people who want to save their lives. If you were Jewish, you\u2019d come to me yourself.\u201d He replied, \u201cDamn it, you\u2019ve got some damn courage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

What was your relationship like with the Swedish envoy Raoul Wallenberg, who was also working to save Jews?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> Shortly after his arrival in the summer of 1944, Wallenberg visited me at the American legation. He said he wanted to lead a rescue operation and asked for the text of our letters of protection. I instructed him as best I could. Other diplomats learned from this method; we pulled people out of the marching columns.<\/p>\n\n

You saved the lives of over 62,000 Jews at that time\u2014more than any other rescuer during the Holocaust: Looking back, how does that make you feel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> It makes me happy that, thanks to our actions, hope remained where otherwise there was only the whip and the mud. But I regret not having saved more people. It was extremely dangerous to negotiate with Adolf Eichmann. For those who were saved, it was their last glimmer of hope\u2014for us, the worst emotional ordeal.<\/p>\n\n

When you look back on that time: Is there anything you regret? Anything you would do differently?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> Yes. Even today, I still find myself wondering how many people we may have sent to their doom, in addition to those we were able to save. I regret that I was not able to save more of my fellow human beings. Sorting through genuine and forged documents was mental torture.<\/p>\n\n

You had previously worked at the Swiss Consulate in Jaffa, in the British Mandate of Palestine. Did this have any influence on your decision to help the Hungarian Jews?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> In Jaffa, I witnessed the unrest and represented German interests. The Germans later recalled this. Palestine certificates became the legal tool. As a Christian, the plight of the Jews was a call of conscience for me\u2014regardless of my position\u2014but my experience in Jaffa sharpened my perspective for what was to come.<\/p>\n\n

Another Swiss man who selflessly dedicated himself to rescuing Jews persecuted by the Nazis out of a sense of conscience was Paul Gr\u00fcninger, the police commander from St. Gallen. Have you ever met him and spoken with him about his rescue efforts?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> I never met Paul Gr\u00fcninger, nor did I speak with him. Our paths never crossed. Each of us acted according to our conscience in our own place. I only learned of his story later, from a distance. In Budapest, we stood alone against Eichmann, the Arrow Cross (the Hungarian Nazis\u2014Ed.), and the trains.<\/p>\n\n

In Israel, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, you were honored in 1964 as a \u201cRighteous Among the Nations\u201d for your courageous actions. What did that mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Carl Lutz:<\/strong> The honor bestowed by Yad Vashem was also intended for Gertrud (Carl Lutz\u2019s first wife\u2014Ed.). It signified recognition where the authorities remained silent. In my younger years, I had asked Providence for a special mission. When the Jews in Budapest came to me, I felt: Here it was. My conscience weighed heavier than the files.<\/p>\n\n

Note<\/strong>: This interview is based on the writings and recorded statements of Hannah Arendt, which were identified and reproduced with the help of AI. In our series \u201cConversations with Legends,\u201d we speak with deceased figures from the worlds of politics, religion, science, and culture who were significant to Judaism and Israel. Our aim is to introduce them and their ideas to today\u2019s audience. Interviews published so far include:<\/p>\n\n

Theodor Herzl<\/a>, the founder of modern Zionism <\/p>\n\n

Chaim Weizmann<\/a>, Israel\u2019s first president <\/p>\n\n

David Ben-Gurion, Israel\u2019s first prime minister<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Golda Meir<\/a>, Israel\u2019s only female prime minister to date<\/p>\n\n

Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president<\/a> who traveled to Jerusalem in 1977 to make peace with Israel<\/p>\n\n

Moses, who led the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Maimonides<\/a>, the great Jewish scholar who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries<\/p>\n\n

Lord Jonathan Sacks<\/a>, the former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom<\/p>\n\n

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Albert Einstein, the founder of the theory of relativity<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Robert Oppenheimer<\/a>, the \u201cfather of the atomic bomb\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Hedy Lamarr<\/a>, the Hollywood icon and inventor<\/p>\n\n

Est\u00e9e Lauder<\/a>, the entrepreneur and founder of a global corporation<\/p>\n\n

Milton Friedman<\/a>, Nobel laureate in economics<\/p>\n\n

Levi Strauss<\/a>, the inventor of jeans<\/p>\n\n

Elie Wiesel<\/a>, writer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate<\/p>\n\n

Primo Levi<\/a>, the Italian chemist and writer<\/p>\n\n

Theodor Adorno<\/a>, the German philosopher and sociologist<\/p>\n\n

Martin Buber<\/a>, philosopher, scholar of religion, and writer.<\/p>\n\n

Hannah Arendt<\/a>, journalist and outspoken thinker<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Sacha Wigdorovits is president of the Fokus Israel und Nahost association, which operates the website fokusisrael.ch. He studied history, German language and literature, and social psychology at the University of Zurich and has worked, among other things, as a U.S. correspondent for the SonntagsZeitung, served as editor-in-chief of BLICK, and co-founded the commuter newspaper 20minuten. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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