us-005578-irn639405
type: RecordSet
biographical history: Charles (Carl) Lutz (1895-1975) was the Swiss vice-consul in Budapest between 1942 and 1945. Born in Walzenhausen, Switzerland, Lutz moved to the United States in 1913 at the age of 18. While studying at the George Washington University, he joined the Swiss diplomatic service and became chancellor at the Swiss legation in Washington, D.C. In 1935, Lutz was sent to Palestine, where he was appointed vice-consul at the Swiss consulate in Jaffa. On January 2, 1942, Lutz was reassigned to the Swiss consulate in Budapest, where he was appointed Chief of the Department of Foreign Interests of the Swiss legation.There he represented the interests of the U.S., Great Britain and twelve other countries that had severed formal relations with Hungary because of its alliance with Nazi Germany. In his capacity as neutral Swiss representative of British interests in Hungary, Lutz organized the issuing of Palestine certificates (endorsed by the British authorities), to Jews seeking to escape from Hungary. Lutz also pioneered the use of the Schutzbrief, an official letter issued by the legation to protect the young emigrants from being drafted into the Hungarian labor service and later from deportation while they awaited passage to Palestine. Soon after the German takeover of Hungary in March 1944, Lutz placed the staff of the Jewish Council for Palestine in Budapest under his diplomatic protection and renamed it the Department of Emigration of the Swiss Legation. This department was soon moved to the Glass House on Vadasz Street and ultimately became a refuge for more than 4,000 Budapest Jews. At this time Lutz also began to issue new Schutzbriefe (eventually numbering more than 50,000) to Jews waiting to leave for Palestine. When Hungarian and German authorities initiated the ghettoization of Budapest Jewry, Lutz established 76 safe houses in the Saint Stephen ghetto and put them under his diplomatic protection. In addition to being repeatedly compelled to rush out to stop Arrow Cr…
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 2
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: Silent
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn639405
note: The Carl Lutz films are available online at the Archiv für Zeitgeschichte catalog: https://www.archives-quickaccess.ch/search/35.
scope and content: Carl and his wife sit close to one another on a set of steps, holding hands and talking, in Chicago (date unknown). She kisses his cheek. He gets up to adjust the camera and rejoins her, putting his arm around her. They smile for the camera. Gertrud in a fur coat and hat. Carl sits with a group of people in rocking chairs. Carl and his wife on a pier, smiling for the camera. The two walk arm in arm on the deck of a ship, looking out over the railing, and in a garden (seen in RG-60.6976). They kiss. Gertrud wears sunglasses and sits with another man (Emil?) on a bench. Carl joins them. CUs, Carl smiling. Flowers in a garden. His wife holds the flowers. She lies amongst the flowers and smells them, smiling and waving at the camera. Carl lies down next to her in the garden and they smile at the camera. They play with the flowers. Carl alone in the garden. More shots of Gertrud smelling the flowers. Man dressed in all white walks through a yard, stopping to admire and touch plants. CU, another man with a mustache (Emil?) waving to the camera. A woman joins him and they both smile for the camera. More family members. The sun sets over the horizon.
title: Carl and Gertrud Lutz in a garden