Congressional Gold Medal for Swiss diplomat who saved thousands of Jews

Carl Lutz managed to save around 62,000 Jews – almost half of those who survived the German occupation in Hungary Keystone / Str

The Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz is to be posthumously honoured with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honour bestowed by the United States Congress.

Lutz (1895-1975) saved tens of thousands of Jews from deportation to concentration camps during the Second World War but was reprimanded by Switzerland for overstepping his competencies.

He was nominated for the award along with other Holocaust rescuers, the Carl Lutz SocietyExternal link announced on Tuesday.

New legislation is currently receiving bipartisan support to posthumously honour US and binational Holocaust rescuers, said Xavier Cornuz, president of the Carl Lutz Society. Cornuz said confirmation of the bill by votes in both houses of Congress could take up to two years, but he was in no doubt about a positive outcome.

Lutz, a diplomat from Appenzell, was Swiss vice-consul in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, from 1942 until the end of the Second World War. There he headed the foreign interests department and thus also represented the interests of numerous countries that were at war with Hungary, including for example the US and UK.

At the time, Hungary was a relatively safe place for Jews, despite harassment and racist legislation. But Lutz was already helping Jewish children by issuing tens of thousands of protective letters which allowed them to emigrate to the British-controlled Palestinian Territories.

In 1944 the situation changed dramatically with the arrival of the Nazis. Hundreds of people began besieging the Swiss consulate day and night, looking for a way to survive.

In total Lutz managed to save around 62,000 Jews – almost half of those who survived the German occupation in Hungary.

Swiss criticism

While Lutz’s work was appreciated abroad, recognition was slow in his homeland. Instead of receiving praise, he was initially reprimanded for exceeding his authority. Lutz was disappointed and embittered by the attitude of official Switzerland. He died in 1975 and was buried in the Bremgarten cemetery in Bern.

It was not until the mid-1990s that the Swiss authorities, probably against the background of the dispute over dormant Jewish assets in Swiss banks, remembered the courageous men and women who had selflessly worked to save Jews. Lutz was posthumously rehabilitated in 1995, 20 years after his death.

In 2018 the largest meeting room in the Federal Palace was named after Lutz.