Memorial to Carl Lutz

Detailed picture subtitles

1. Inscription in Hungarian: Whoever saves a life is considered as if he has saved an entire world (Talmud).
In memory of those who in 1944 under the leadership of the Swiss Consul Carl Lutz rescued thousands of riddens of the Nazis.
Carl Lutz Comittee Switzerland, Budapest City Council 1991.
2. Inscription in English: Whoever saves a life is considered as if he has saved an entire world (Talmud).
In memory of those who in 1944 under the leadership of the Swiss Consul Carl Lutz (1895-1975) rescued thousands from National Socialist persecution.
3. The memorial to Carl Lutz in Budapest, Dob utca, at the entrance of the former ghetto area.
4. The statue was made by Tamás Szabó in 1991.
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Carl Lutz

Righteous Gentile - a true man among the people of the world - Carl Lutz has been recognized as one of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
The International Red Cross, embassies, consulates, and diplomats such as Friedrich Born (1903-1963), Angelo Rotta (1872-1965), Carl (Charles) Lutz (1895-1975), Raoul Wallenberg (1912-1947(?)), Valdemar Langlet (1872-1960), and Giorgio Perlasca (1910-1992) helped to save Jews with fake passports, protective letters and "protected houses".

Carl Lutz arrived to Budapest in 1942. He played an important role in the rescue activities during the persecution by issuing tens of thousands of protective documents to Jews and also claimed diplomatic immunity for 72 protected houses established around Budapest. He tried to save many victims of the Arrow Cross terror on the bank of the Danube also. The house called Glass House (Üvegház) in Vadász utca 29. was the headquarters of the Zionist youth movement which coordinated rescue and relief activities for the Jews of Budapest. There were crowds risking their own life while waiting for the Swiss safe-conduct passports in front of the house during the Holocaust.
Carl Lutz saved 62000 Hungarian Jews from death between 1942 and 1945. He died in 1975.
One of the rooms of the Glass House had been turned into a memorial room, opened on 2 May, 2005.

Carl Lutz Memorial Unveiled in front of U.S. Embassy
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On December 13, 2006, in a poignant ceremony attended by foreign diplomats, Hungarian government officials and representatives of the Jewish community, a memorial to Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz was unveiled in the park adjacent to the U.S. Embassy at Szabadsag tér 12.
Ambassador April H. Foley in her unveiling speech noted that "few individuals during the dark times of World War II helped so many innocent people escape death," and added that "through our common work we must ensure that there is never again a crime like the Holocaust." Swiss Ambassador Marc André-Salamin honoring the memory of his fellow diplomat noted that Lutz had been the designer and leader of the biggest and most successful rescue operation of the 20th century. Mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky emphasized that, without the activity of Carl Lutz, Budapest would not be the multicultural metropolis that it has become, and added that Budapest is the only capital in Central Eastern Europe where a Jewish community of more than 100,000 has survived following the Holocaust.

Photo Archives Collection of Yad Vashem - Carl Lutz

Biography of Carl Lutz - in German.

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