March 6, 2008

Carl Lutz Memorial Exhibition Opening in Connecticut

The 'Carl Lutz and the Legendary Glass House in Budapest' exhibition was solemnly opened at the J. Eugene Smith Library of the Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) in Willimantic, CT on Thursday, February 26.

 

The Carl Lutz Exhibition in the J. Eugene Smith Library of the Eastern Connecticut State University

With the help of his wife, Gertrud, Swiss Vice-Consul Carl Lutz rescued 62 thousands Jews in Budapest from deportation to Nazi death camps during WW2. From 1942 to 1945, he was in charge of issuing visas at the Swiss Embassy in Budapest. In that capacity, he issued tens of thousands of protective letters (“Schutzbriefe”) for Hungarian Jews, documents the Nazi officials only reluctantly recognized.

 

Swiss Vice-Consul Carl Lutz in his office in Budapest during the 1940s

He also established 'safe houses' throughout Budapest by declaring them annexes of the Swiss legation and eventually extended diplomatic immunity to 72 buildings. Among these safe houses the most famous one was the 'Glass House', an old industrial building at 29 Vadász Street. Over 3,000 Jews found refuge and protection from their prosecutors here during World War 2.  The Glass House was opened in 2005 for visitors as a museum to document the history of Carl Lutz and his actvities.

 

The 'Glass House', an old industrial building at 29 Vadász Street, Budapest, where over 3,000 Jews found refuge and protection, now serves as a memorial museum 

The exhibition, organized by the Carl Lutz Foundation (Budapest) and Eastern Connecticut State University, was officially opened by Dr. Cesar Beltran, Professor of the Department of Communication (ECSU), who had also served as a public affairs diplomat in Budapest in the late 1990s.

 

Eastern Connecticut State University Professor Dr. Cesar Beltran

The significance of the exhibition was praised by Ms. Elsa Nunez, President of ECSU, Ambassador Christoph Bubb, Swiss Consul General in New York, NY, Ambassador Viktor Polgár, Hungarian Consul General in New York, and Mr. Béla Gedeon, Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, DC.

 

Eastern Connecticut State University President Elsa Nunez
 

Ambassador Christoph Bubb, Swiss Consul General in New York
 

Ambassador Viktor Polgár, Hungarian Consul General in New York
 

Mr. Béla Gedeon, Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, DC

Ambassador Bubb stressed that Carl Lutz has been the first Swiss citizen to be named "Righteous Among Nations" by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem, Israel in 1964. The Swiss Government issued an official Carl Lutz memorial stamp, and a city street was also named in honor of him in his native town, Walzenhausen in 1969.

 

Official Carl Lutz memorial stamp issued by the Swiss Post in 1999

Cultural Attaché Béla Gedeon emphasized that a commemorative statue was unveiled at the entrance of the old Budapest ghetto in Hungary in 1991, and a public memorial was inaugurated in 2006 in the park adjacent to the Embassy where Carl Lutz had worked in the 1940s.

 

The Carl Lutz Commemorative Statue, unveiled at the entrance of the old Budapest ghetto in Hungary in 1991
 

The Carl Lutz Memorial, unveiled in 2006 at Szabadság Square, Budapest, Hungary

The 'Carl Lutz and the Legendary Glass House in Budapest' exhibition will be open in the United States Congress from Monday, March 23 to Friday, March 27. The event will be co-organized by the Carl Lutz Foundation (Budapest), Hungarian American Coalition, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, and Mensch International Foundation, and the opening reception co-hosted with the Embassy of Switzerland, Embassy of Israel, and Embassy of Hungary.