Letter of protection issued by the Swiss Embassy in Budapest and signed by Carl Lutz. Budapest, 1944

Letter of protection issued by the Swiss Embassy in Budapest and signed by Carl Lutz. Budapest, 1944

Protection letter [Schutzbrief] issued by the Swiss embassy in Budapest, signed by Carl Lutz, a Righteous Among the Nations, for the Romanian doctor and diplomat Oscar Szamekiu/Szamek. Budapest, December 9, 1944.

A printed typewritten letter in German and Hungarian on the letterhead of the Swiss embassy's Foreign Interests Department (Schweizerische Gesandtschaft, Abteilung für fremde Interessen), headed by the diplomat Carl Lutz, includes Oscar Szamekiu's photo ID. It certifies that Dr. Oscar Szamekiu, the former physician of the Romanian diplomatic mission, is under Swiss protection "while maintaining Romanian interests". The letter is signed by Carl Lutz and bears the Swiss embassy's stamp (in German and French), as well as the signature of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry secretary in Budapest. It was meant to protect Szamekiu from potential hostile acts by the Hungarian government that had allied with the Axis in World War II. Protection letters personally signed by Lutz are extremely rare.

With the Nazi Germany occupation of Hungary in 1944, the systematic destruction and deportation of Hungarian Jews began. Lutz, who had sympathized with the Jewish cause since his time at the Swiss Consulate in Jaffa from 1935-1941 and was very friendly with Moshe Kraus, the director of the Zionist office in Hungary who organized immigration to Israel for the Jewish Agency, responded to Kraus' request for help by working tirelessly to save Hungarian Jews. Among other things, he issued Swiss "protection letters" to Jews with immigration certificates. After negotiating with high-ranking Nazis and with the consent of the Hungarian authorities, he issued about 8,000 protection letters - one for each immigration permit holder. Subsequently, he transferred the protection letters to the entire family of the certificate holder, and tens of thousands of Jews thus came under the protection of the protection letters. In addition, forgeries of thousands of protection letters were made on paper stolen from the SS offices. On another level, Lutz and Kraus worked to ensure that Western governments and later also public opinion in these countries understood what was happening in the extermination camps. Lutz saved more than 60,000 Jews through the protection letters and safe houses he provided for the survivors. In 1964, Lutz was among the first to receive the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" from Yad Vashem. In 1991, a memorial was erected in his memory at the entrance to the Budapest ghetto.

[1] Leaf. 30x21 cm. Fold marks. Slight tears along the fold marks. Good condition.