Visas for Life:

The Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust, a nonprofit corporation (ISRAH), is an educational organization formed for the purpose of conducting research, disseminating information, promoting awareness of, and honoring groups and individuals for the rescue of Jews and other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators, 1933-1945.

ISRAH is an umbrella organization for the Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project and the Jewish Rescuers Project.

The story of rescue in the Holocaust has been largely ignored and even marginalized.

The principal aim and objectives of the Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust is to show that both groups and individuals could effectively defy the genocidal policies of the Nazis.

ISRAH’s goal is to recognize heroic men and women in order to encourage others to emulate the acts of these courageous people.

ISRAH documents the stories of diplomats, political leaders, state institutions, religious groups, rescue and relief organizations, and other organizations and individuals who were actively involved in rescuing or assisting people persecuted by the Nazis.

Primary activities of the Organization include: producing books and writing scholarly articles; curating traveling exhibits; preparing educational curricula, websites and film documentaries; and organizing public programs. It will also research, document and nominate individuals for the title of Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority. ISRAH will also establish its own system to recognize and honor individuals for their altruistic behavior during the period of the Holocaust.

ISRAH will create and maintain a searchable database on rescue and altruism on its website. This will include lists of individuals and groups who were involved in rescue and relief activities during the War. ISRAH will work with scholars and share information and databases.

ISRAH will honor individuals and organizations by issuing commemorative medals, certificates, plaques, etc.

The Organization will promote awareness of rescue and altruism in the Holocaust to European governments whose citizens participated in rescue. It will encourage other organizations to establish their own systems to recognize altruistic individuals.

In cases where individuals were punished for their altruistic activities during the Holocaust, the Organization will encourage these institutions and governments to rehabilitate the reputations of these rescuers.

The Organization works with the families of the rescuers honored in the exhibit and educational material. The Organization also works with individuals who were rescued during the period of the Holocaust, and their families and descendants. The Organization coordinates with the governments of the rescuers, particularly in the case of diplomatic and other state-sponsored rescuers. ISRAH will collect photographs, documents, oral histories and other materials relating to rescue and altruism in the Holocaust, and will share these materials with other institutions and researchers.

Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project

Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats is an exhibit and program that tells for the first time an important and untold story of the Holocaust. If features the dramatic story of diplomats from diverse countries, cultures and backgrounds who saved tens of thousands of lives.

Diplomatic rescue took place between 1933 and 1945 by diplomats representing 27 countries. They rescued Jews in more than 35 geographic areas.

Few are aware that there were diplomats willing to risk their careers and their lives. Many are unaware that diplomatic rescue was even possible. Thousands were rescued by individuals whose heroic deeds have remained largely unrecognized.

Rescue by diplomats took many forms. Diplomats issued visas, including exit visas and transit visas, citizenship papers, protective papers and other forms of documentation that allowed Jews to escape the Nazis. Some diplomats smuggled refugees across international borders. Many diplomats established safe houses and some hid Jews in their embassies and in their personal residences. Some diplomats were able to stop Nazi deportations to the death camps. Some diplomats warned the Jews of impending actions and deportations.

Diplomats rescued Jews at the peril of their careers and, sometimes, their lives. Some of the diplomats who aided Jews did so illegally, and in violation of the regulations and immigration policies of their countries. Diplomats were censured or punished for their acts of courage. Some diplomats were fired or were stripped of their ranks and pensions. Others were ostracized in their home countries.

This Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats exhibit is based on original photographs and other archival materials collected from the families of the diplomats and other original sources. The exhibit also draws on historical accounts by survivors and witnesses. The exhibit has been widely acclaimed and has drawn enthusiastic praise. The exhibit premiered at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance in January 1995. The exhibit showed at the United Nations headquarters in April 2000 and at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in July 2000. The exhibit was displayed at the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust in January 2000 and at the national conference of the American Jewish Committee in Washington, DC.

Several heads of state have attended and participated in opening ceremonies of the Visas for Life exhibit, including the King and Queen of Sweden, the Prime Minister of Sweden, the President of Hungary, the President of Switzerland, the Prime Minister of Germany, and U.S. Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

Message from Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations

Nana Annan, wife of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

and niece of Raoul Wallenberg, viewing

Visas for Life exhibit at United Nations, 2000

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the opening of the exhibition "Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats" at Headquarters on 3 April 2000. Kofi Annan is married to Nana Annan, niece of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

Dear friends,

This remarkable event, this heart-rending exhibition, and you yourselves all have a natural home at the United Nations. The yearning for a United Nations had its origins in the scourge of fascism and Nazism, and its Charter was written as the world was first learning the full horror of the Holocaust. Today, your struggle -- against hatred and intolerance, and for justice and remembrance -- is our struggle, as well.

The popular image of diplomats is not a flattering one. One familiar description says that "diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing, in the nicest way". It is sometimes said that diplomats lack a moral compass, passively following the orders of bosses and regimes regardless of their political or ethical character -- or lack thereof. The popular image of diplomats is not a flattering one. One familiar description says that "diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing, in the nicest way". It is sometimes said that diplomats lack a moral compass, passively following the orders of bosses and regimes regardless of their political or ethical character -- or lack thereof.

Maybe that is true of some. It was emphatically not true of the extraordinary people whose stories are told by "Visas for Life". Some famous, others known to just a few, they make up a gallery of courageous individuals who, in the face of an inhuman force that was destroying lives and societies alike, took enormous personal risks to rescue Jews and others facing persecution and peril. They were true heroes; indeed, they were among the foremost human rights defenders of their day. With genocide still stalking our world, they are models for our time, too.

The United Nations seeks to carry on in that tradition -- first and foremost, to save lives, but also to show that the popular image of diplomacy is an unfair caricature. That is why the United Nations tries to shine a spotlight on injustice, wherever it lurks. It is why we build institutions such as the International Criminal Court, so that no one -- from rulers to front-line soldiers -- can enjoy impunity from the rule of law. It is why, next year in South Africa, we will hold a world conference on racism at which, I should stress, anti-Semitism will be one of the forms of intolerance targeted for action. And it is why United Nations personnel continue to work in war zones and other risky places -- many of whom, like Dag Hammarskjöld, have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of peace.

I would like to express my congratulations to the many groups and individuals who have made this project possible. You are doing more than documenting stories worth passing on from generation to generation. You are teaching the world that each and every one of us has a responsibility to care and be aware, and to speak up in the face of suffering, prejudice and violence. Had there been more righteous diplomats and more righteous people in general over the years, our world might be a better place. With more such individuals in the future, it still can be. In that hopeful spirit, please accept my best wishes for a memorable evening."

History of Diplomatic Rescue 1933-1945

The Nazis depended on the support of millions in order to murder millions. Of the few Jews who survived the Holocaust, some did so largely on their own, while others were helped by good people--friends, neighbors and total strangers.

Many people turned a blind eye and did nothing, or worse they made it harder for the innocent to survive. Diplomats, consuls and foreign officials were in a unique position to extend significant help to Jewish refugees. For persecuted Jews desperately seeking visas to escape the Nazis, the actions of these diplomats could mean the difference between life and death. Many diplomats used every nuance in their regulations in order to keep Jews from entering their countries. Yet a few defied their countries to save Jews.

Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese Consul who saved Jews in Kovno, Lithuania, said: “Those people told me the kind of horror they would have to face if they didn’t get away from the Nazis and I believe them. There was no place else for them to go....If I had waited any longer, even if permission came, it might have been too late.”

Taken all together, these few diplomats rescued many tens of thousands of Jewish lives and were responsible for saving the largest numbers of Jews during the Holocaust. Yet they remained modest. When asked why he did it, Italian-born Giorgio Perlasca who became the Spanish chargé d’affaires in Budapest said simply: “Because I could not bear the sight of people branded as animals. Because I couldn’t bear to see children killed. I think it was this. I don’t think I was a hero.”

As official representatives of their governments, the diplomats were obligated to uphold the immigration laws and policies of their countries. By issuing visas to Jewish refugees, some were acting contrary to the explicit orders of their governments and superiors. Doing this put them at direct risk to their careers and, in some cases, even their lives. After issuing thousands of visas to Jewish and other refugees in Bordeaux, France, in June 1940, Portuguese Consul General Aristides de Sousa Mendes explained: “My government has denied all applications for visas to any refugee. But I cannot allow these people to die....I am going to issue [a visa] to anyone who asks for it...Even if I am discharged I can only act as a Christian, as my conscience tells me.”

Soon after issuing visas, de Sousa Mendes was dismissed from the Portuguese Foreign Ministry and was stripped of his rank and his pension. He was forced to sell his home, was ostracized by his friends, and suffered two strokes that left him partially paralyzed. De Sousa Mendes had no regrets: “If so many Jews can suffer because of one person [Hitler], then one Christian can suffer for Jews.” In 1954, de Sousa Mendes died in poverty.

After more than 60 years, some diplomats honored in the exhibit have yet to be recognized or rehabilitated in their own countries. In the years after the war, many diplomats and their families suffered retribution and economic hardship for their courageous actions. The families of these diplomats have sought to have the respective governments restore the name and the honor of their fathers.

We can now publicly recognize these altruistic people and tell the story of their great deeds.

History of the Visas for Life Project

The Visas for Life project began in 1994 by honoring Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat in Lithuania who issued visas to Jews in 1940. In April 1996, the Visas for Life project was expanded to include the stories of Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk, Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

An important part of the project has been to nominate diplomats for Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations program. Diplomats have been officially recognized due to our efforts.

The Visas for Life Project has inspired a number of programs worldwide. The Israeli foreign ministry and Yad Vashem, working with the Visas for Life Project, created a traveling exhibit, which has traveled to numerous foreign ministry venues around the world.

The Visas for Life Project created an exhibit that tells the story of Holocaust survivor Solly Ganor (Zalke Genkind). The exhibit depicts Solly’s life in the Kovno Ghetto, his experiences in the Dachau subcamps, and his subsequent liberation by Japanese American soldiers in May 1945. It also tells of the special relationship that Solly and his family had with Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara.

Highlights and History of the Visas for Life Project and ISRAH

1993

The Visas for Life Project was originally created to honor Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. The Project is launched in San Francisco, California.

1994

Street in Bern named after Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz.

Three Visas for Life exhibits honoring Chiune Sugihara are produced. Two are in English and one in Japanese.

September 1994

Visas for Life sponsors a mission to Japan to honor Chiune Sugihara and his widow, Yukiko. Several Sugihara survivors give testimony in Japan to his courage. Sugihara monument is rededicated by Sugihara survivors and Deputy Japanese Prime Minister Gotoda. An exhibit honoring Sugihara is opened in his hometown of Yaotsu, Japan. The exhibit also opens in Nagoya, Tokyo, Hiroshima and numerous other cities in Japan.

1995

Visas for Life: The Story of Sugihara exhibit and program is launched in the United States.

January 1995

The Visas for Life exhibit opens up at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance. Mrs. Yukiko Sugihara and her son dedicate the exhibit and are honored in several functions. Steven Spielberg honors Sugihara at a special program in Los Angeles.

Sugihara exhibit opens at the California State Capitol, Sacramento, California.

May 1995

Portugal issues commemorative postage stamp honoring Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

June 1995

Carl Lutz und die Juden von Budapest, by Dr. Theo Tschuy, is published (NZZ Buchverlag, Zurich). This biography stimulates interest in Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz.

September 1995

Visas for Life exhibit featuring Chiune Sugihara shown at the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, Washington.

October 1995

Aristides de Sousa Mendes presented with the Gran Cross of the Order of Christ, the highest medal awarded to civilians in Portugal.

November 30, 1995

Swiss policeman Paul Grüninger acquitted of all charges related to allowing more than 3,600 Jews to enter Switzerland illegally during World War II.

1996

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats Project premieres exhibit depicting multiple diplomats in San Francisco and at the Holocaust Museum Houston. Exhibit now depicts Sugihara, de Sousa Mendes, Zwartendijk and Raoul Wallenberg.

Visas for Life Project translates, edits and publishes Yukiko Sugihara's biography, Visas for Life.

March 1997

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the Spertus Museum in Chicago.

1997

Dutch Honorary Consul Jan Zwartendijk, who was stationed in Kovno, Lithuania, awarded Righteous Among the Nations medal.

Monsignor Angelo Rotta, Papal Nuncio and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45, is honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit opens at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. US Diplomat Hiram Bingham, IV, is added to the exhibit.

Book on Ambassador Per Anger, A Quiet Courage: Per Anger, Wallenberg's Co-Liberator of Hungarian Jews, by Elizabeth R. Skoglund, is published.

February 1997

Raoul Wallenberg monument is dedicated in London, England.

September 28, 1997

Dr. Feng Shan Ho dies in San Francisco at the age of 96.

1998

Visas for Life project nominates numerous diplomats for the Righteous Among the Nations program at Yad Vashem.

Visas and Virtue, a short theatrical film on Chiune Sugihara, is released and receives an Academy Award.

Alexander Kasser, Swedish Representative for the Red Cross in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45, receives the Righteous Among the Nations award. Kasser passes away shortly thereafter.

Book on Aristides de Sousa Mendes, A Good Man in Evil Times: The Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes--The Man Who Saved the Lives of Countless Refugees in World War II, by José-Alain Fralon, is published.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate His Holiness the Dalai Lama becomes honorary board member of Visas for Life Project.

Raoul Wallenberg monument is dedicated at the United Nations building in New York City.

April 1998

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit opens at Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem for the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. The Project sponsors members of the diplomats' families to Israel for the opening of the exhibit.

Israel issues a commemorative postage stamp in honor of Righteous Diplomats.

October 1998

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit is translated into German and opens at Berlin City Hall.

November 1998

The Visas for Life Project curates a separate version of the Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit that will tour in Europe. Exhibit opens in Bern, Switzerland. In attendance is the President of Switzerland. This exhibit begins tour of cities throughout Switzerland and Europe.

Visas for Life Project curates photo exhibit on the Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz. Exhibit opens at the Swiss consulate in Los Angeles and tours throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Israel.

May 1999

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit opens in Budapest, Hungary, at the National Library. Attended by the President of Hungary and the diplomatic corps. Also in attendance is Swedish diplomat Ambassador Per Anger.

October 1999

British diplomat who was stationed in Berlin, Frank Foley, awarded Righteous Among the Nations medal for saving Jews.

Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews, by Michael Smith, is published in England.

Visas for Life Project curates separate exhibit on the life and rescue activities of Chinese diplomat Dr. Feng Shan Ho, who rescued Jews in Vienna. Exhibit opens at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, the Chinese Cultural Centre, and other museums.

November 1999

Dr. Harald Feller and Peter Zürcher, Swiss diplomats in Budapest, receive the Righteous Among the Nations award.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is honored by the European Parliament.

1999

Agnes Hirschi, daughter of Carl Lutz, who lives in Bern, Switzerland, becomes European Exhibit coordinator of Visas for Life.

Israeli Foreign Ministry tours the Visas for Life exhibit through its embassies and cultural ministry. Exhibit is shown throughout Europe.

Jean-Edouard Friedrich, Swiss diplomat stationed in Germany, is honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

January 2000

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit opens at the International Forum on the Holocaust in Stockholm, Sweden. This program is attended by 40 heads of state and the exhibit is visited by the King and Queen of Sweden.

Chaim Roet attends the exhibition and is inspired to create a committee to honor Jewish rescuers, called the Jews Rescuing Jews Committee.

The Visas for Life now tells the story of more than 50 diplomats.

April 2000

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit opens at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Opening program is held in the hall of the General Assembly. Many of the families of the diplomats are in attendance. Polish diplomat Jan Karski and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel are the guests of honor. The Visas for Life exhibit is sponsored by and produced in cooperation with the major Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, The Jewish National Fund, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the World Jewish Congress and Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel becomes honorary board member of Visas for Life Project.

May 2000

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the national convention of the American Jewish Committee in Washington, D.C. Dinner attended by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the Prime Minister of Sweden and the President of Germany.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., dedicates exhibit honoring diplomats Sugihara and Zwartendijk, called Flight and Rescue. Book is later published, also entitled Flight and Rescue.

July 2000

Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit opens at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Exhibit is sponsored by the Secretary General and the Chief of Protocol, Mehmet Ülkümen, son of Turkish Consul General Selahattin Ülkümen.

August 2000

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the National Museum in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In attendance is the President of Slovenia.

September 2000

Ambassador Per Anger becomes honorary citizen of the state of Israel.

Dr. Ho is awarded the Righteous Among the Nations award by the state of Israel.

Japanese foreign ministry dedicates memorial to Sugihara in its headquarters. Ministry formally apologizes to Mrs. Sugihara for not recognizing Sugihara’s work earlier.

Film Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness wins prestigious Independent Documentary Association award and first place in Hollywood Film Festival.

November 2000

Documentary film on diplomatic rescue, Diplomats for the Damned, premieres at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Theater. Film is distributed along with student guide to schools and airs on the History Channel.

2000

The Visas for Life Project nominates Turkish diplomats who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. They are honored with a medal of heroism by the Turkish government. Honored are Selahattin Ülkümen, Necdet Kent and Namik Kemal Yolga. All three of these heroic diplomats, in their late 80's and 90's, were able to receive these medals personally.

Visas for Life exhibit and speaker’s program participates in more than 100 programs since its inception in 1994.

Polish diplomat Jan Karski, who warned the western world of the Holocaust, passes away.

Book on Carl Lutz, Dangerous Diplomacy: The Story of Carl Lutz, Rescuer of 62,000 Hungarian Jews, by Dr. Theo Tschuy, is published. Book receives literary prize.

Swiss government issues postage stamp honoring Carl Lutz.

Book on George Mandel Mantello is published entitled, The Man Who Stopped the Trains to Auschwitz: George Mantello, El Salvador, and Switzerland’s Finest Hour. Written by David Kranzler.

Book on Spanish diplomat Don Angel Sanz-Briz, Un Español Frente al Holocausto, by Diego Carcedo, is published.

Children's book on Chiune Sugihara, A Special Fate: Chiune Sugihara: Hero of the Holocaust, written by Alison Leslie Gold, is published.

Abigail Bingham Endicott composes the song They Were True to the Voice of Love in honor of diplomatic rescuers.

2001

Beatification of Pope John XXIII. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was the Papal Nuncio in Turkey who saved 24,000 Jews. The Visas for Life Project supports the beatification.

Elow Kihlgren, Swedish diplomat stationed in Italy, is honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Florian Manoliu, Romanian diplomat stationed in Hungary, is honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Howard Elting, Sr., US Consul in Bern, Switzerland, who passed on the Auschwitz Report to the State Department with an endorsement of credibility, passes away.

Portuguese government obtains the old Aristides de Sousa Mendes estate in Cabanas de Viriato, begins raising money for its restoration as a tribute to his rescue work.

Portuguese President Mario Soares apologizes to the Portuguese Jewish community for the injustices of the Portuguese Inquisition in 1496. He does this in conjunction with honoring de Sousa Mendes.

Visas for Life exhibition opens in San Francisco. Ten thousand people see the exhibit in eight weeks.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate from East Timor, José Ramos Horta becomes honorary board member of Visas for Life Project. The Visas for Life Project gives Mr. Horta the One Person Can Make a Difference prize for his courageous action in bringing peace and independence to East Timor. This award is also given to Ms. Anne Treseder and Mr. John Crisostomo.

August 2001

Monument for Raoul Wallenberg is dedicated in Stockholm, Sweden.

September 2001

Three versions of the Visas for Life exhibit honoring Dr. Feng Shan Ho are exhibited in China. One exhibit opened in Dr. Ho's home town of Yiyang. A second exhibit opened at the original Yale-in-China campus in Yali, where Dr. Ho attended college. A large exhibit was also opened in Beijing, in cooperation with the Israeli embassy.

October 2001

Visas for Life exhibit is translated into French and opens at the Memorial du Martyr Juif Inconnu at the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine in Paris, France. Exhibit opening ceremony takes place at the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) of Paris. Opening is attended by the Mayor of Paris and members of the Rothschild family.

2002

Ambassador Per Anger, Raoul Wallenberg's colleague in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45, passes away.

Consul General Necdet Kent, Turkish Consul in Paris who saved Jews, passes away.

Visas for Life Project has documented more than 100 diplomats who rescued Jews. These diplomats represent 27 countries.

Sir Martin Gilbert’s book, The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust, is published. In this detailed study, Sir Martin draws upon 25 years of original research to tell the stories of those who risked their lives to help save Jews from deportation and death. Many stories of the Righteous diplomats are told in this book.

Pope John XXIII, written by Thomas Cahill, is published. References about his rescue of Eastern European Jews are presented in the book.

An old Raoul Wallenberg statue that was created after the war is restored and rededicated in Budapest.

February 2002

Consul Carl Lutz becomes honorary citizen of the State of Israel.

April 2002

Visas for Life exhibit is hosted by the London Jewish Community and Cultural Centre at King's College, London. In attendance is the Mayor of London and numerous Ambassadors.

August 4, 2002

Raoul Wallenberg’s 90^th birthday is celebrated. Renewed interest in his story is generated.

October 2002

Visas for Life exhibit shown at Boston University, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee.

Visas for Life exhibit shown at Rider College, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, New Jersey.

US Congressman Tom Lantos from California and his wife, Annette, become honorary Chairmen of the Visas for Life Project. They were rescued by Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944-45.

November 2002

Visas for Life exhibit opens at St. Mary's College in San Antonio, Texas.

The Visas for Life exhibit adds the role of Italian diplomats who rescued Jews in Yugoslavia, Greece and Southern France. At least 17 Italian diplomats were active in the rescue of Jews in these areas. These diplomats are officially nominated by the Visas for Life Project to be honored by the State of Israel with the designation of Righteous Person.

Becsület és batorsag: Carl Lutz és a budapesti zsidok (Honour and Courage: Carl Lutz and the Budapest Jews), by Dr. Theo Tschuy, is published in Hungary.

December 2002

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, and then tours to Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa.

Sugihara memorial statue is dedicated in Los Angeles.

April 2003

The Visas for Life Project, along with Enrico Mantello, The Wallenberg Society of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, and the Mowszowski family, sponsors commemorative medals honoring Raoul Wallenberg, Carl Lutz and Chiune Sugihara. These medals are issued by the Israeli State Coins and Medals.

Mrs. Yukiko Sugihara and her son, Chiaki, are sponsored to a special trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, organized by the Visas for Life Project. They are honored by the Governor and the State Legislature. The Hawaiian Japanese American community participates in numerous commemorative programs.

Colonel Harry Fukuhara and Major Noby Yoshimura are honored with a One Person Can Make a Difference award by Visas for Life for their role in discovering the Sugihara story. They are given a medal in a special ceremony with Mrs. Sugihara in attendance.

May 2003

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the Marshfield Public Library, Marshfield, Wisconsin, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sponsored by the Milwaukee Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. The exhibit is also shown in Milwaukee.

Light One Candle: A Child’s Diary of the Holocaust exhibit (includes story of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara) opens at the YIVO institute in New York City. Exhibit runs through November 2003.

June 7, 2003

Selahattin Ülkümen, the Turkish diplomat who saved Jews on the island of Rhodes, passes away in Istanbul.

September 2003

A memorial plaque honoring Jan Zwartendijk was unveiled in Kaunas, Lithuania at the site of his office.

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the City Hall in Vienna, Austria. Many families of the diplomats travel to the opening of the exhibition. The exhibit is widely covered in the press.

Alison Leslie Gold publishes Fiet’s Vase and Other Stories of Survival, Europe 1939-1945. In this book, there are a number of stories of diplomatic rescue, including the stories of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Wallenberg survivor Kate Wacz, Bernadotte survivor Gloria Lyon and Sugihara friend Solly Ganor.

October 2003

Visas for Life exhibit shows in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, sponsored by Congressman Tom Lantos and Senator Charles Schumer.

Visas for Life presents commemorative medals and books to US Secretary of State Colin Powell in a special ceremony at the State Department. Letter requesting opening of archives and cooperation of countries to determine the fate of Raoul Wallenberg.

Members of the Visas for Life families attend tribute to Holocaust survivors in commemoration of the 10^th anniversary of the founding of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Present diplomatic commemorative medals to the Director of the museum.

Three new diplomats are discovered during the week-long festivities. They are honored in the exhibition and program. This brings the total number of diplomats being documented by the Project to 147.

Petition is written and circulated to determine the ultimate fate of Raoul Wallenberg.

Sir Martin Gilbert, of London, England, an internationally renowned historian, has agreed to co-author a book on diplomatic rescue in World War II. Gilbert, a Holocaust historian, has authored over 70 works, including an impressive eight-volume official biography of Sir Winston Churchill. The Visas for Life manuscript is being prepared in cooperation with Visas for Life Director Eric Saul. This book will be an elegantly illustrated book with maps and biographies of all the diplomats.

Abigail Bingham Endicott composes song Tikun Olam (Heal the World) in honor of diplomatic rescuers.

December 11, 2003

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the Arts and Cultural Center sponsored by the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in North Miami, Florida. Guests of honor were the Mayor of Hollywood, Florida, and former US Attorney General Janet Reno.

Dr. Harald Feller passes away in Bern, Switzerland.

2004

Members of the Emergency Rescue Committee who worked with Varian Fry in Marseilles are nominated by Visas for Life for the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

January 2004

Exhibit entitled Raoul Wallenberg – One Man Can Make a Difference opens in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Jewish Museum. This exhibit is produced by the Jewish Museum in Stockholm.

February 2004

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the International Convention Center, Binyaney Ha’ooma, Jerusalem, Israel. Visas for Life commemorative medals are presented to various dignitaries in Israel. The exhibit is sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and Julius Koppelman.

The Visas for Life Project gives the One Person Can Make a Difference award to Mr. Chaim Roet and the Jews Rescuing Jews Committee. Presentation is made at Yad Vashem. Also honored is Mr. Max Grunberg, of the Raoul Wallenberg Honorary Citizenship Committee, who has also worked for the Raoul Wallenberg cause.

The Visas for Life Project has now researched more than 200 diplomats who rescued Jews.

March 2004

Visas for Life exhibit opens at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida.

May 2004

Light One Candle: Child’s Diary of the Holocaust exhibition opens at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Center.

July 2004

Visas for Life Project nominates Father Gennaro Verolino, Secretary to Angelo Rotta in Budapest, 1944-45, for the title of Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

July 26, 2004

Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats exhibition opens at the Hungarian Foreign Ministry building in Budapest. This is for a gathering of Hungarian diplomats in honor of the 60^th anniversary of diplomatic rescue in Budapest. Agnes Hirschi, Visas for Life European Exhibit Coordinator, organizes this program.

September 2004

Visas for Life Project has program in Washington, DC, and New York City to honor diplomats who saved Jews in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45.

December 2004

Yad Vashem agrees to present Hiram Bingham IV, the US diplomat in Marseilles, and Father Gennaro Verolino, Secretary to Angelo Rotta, with letters of commendation for saving Jews during the Shoa.

The Israeli Knesset agrees to continue investigation regarding the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg in the former Soviet Union. The Knesset also will establish an educational curriculum to honor the rescue activities of Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest.

March 2005

Yad Vashem honors Hiram “Harry” Bingham IV with a letter of commendation in appreciation for “facilitating the immigration of Jewish persons from France during 1940-1941.”

April 2005

Visas for Life exhibit opens in Montreal, Canada, and has a one-year tour. The exhibit also opens at the Cleveland Public Library.

May 2005

Visas for Life documents 300 diplomats who helped or saved Jews.

Exhibit is opened honoring Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz in the former Glass House on Vadasz Utca.

Carl Lutz is honored in Visas for Life exhibition sponsored by the Swiss consulate in New York City.

WGBH, the Public Broadcasting System affiliate in Boston, broadcasts “Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness” on a national broadcast.

The Visas for Life Project decides to expand its program to honor heads of state and foreign ministers who were active in saving Jews during the Shoah.

2006

Robert Kim Bingham, son of Hiram Bingham, writes and publishes book “Courageous Dissent: How Harry Bingham Defied His Government to Save Lives.”

The Visas for Life Project joins the Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO).

May 30, 2006

US Postal Service honors American diplomat Hiram “Harry” Bingham with a commemorative postage stamp as part of a “Distinguished American Diplomat” series.

June 9, 2006

The Visas for Life Project becomes a US nonprofit institution, 501(c)(3), and the project will be under the umbrella of the Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust, a nonprofit corporation (ISRAH). ISRAH expands its mission to document state-sponsored rescue, rescue by religious institutions and rescue agencies.

As part of its mission, ISRAH will also document and honor Jews who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. ISRAH begins compiling a list of Jewish organizations and individuals.

2007

Father Gennaro Verolino, the Vatican assistant nuncio in Budapest 1944-1945, is honored by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations.

ISRAH compiles a list of Jews who were involved in the rescue of their fellow Jews and a database of Jewish rescue organizations.

February 3, 2007

Historical seminar on Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is conducted in Budapest sponsored by the Swedish Foreign Ministry. Raoul Wallenberg’s niece, Louise von Dardel, attends.

March 24, 2007

Dedication of Raoul Wallenberg Street in Paris, France.

June 2007

Visas for Life Project prepares special exhibit on Ambassador Gilberto Bosques and the rescue of Jews in France, which premieres at the Tuvio Maizel Museum of the Holocaust in Mexico City. Vice President of Mexico attends the opening.

September 2007

Ambassador Gilberto Bosques exhibit opens in the Mexican Foreign Ministry building. The Mexican Foreign Minister attends the opening, along with a number of ambassadors to Mexico.

October 2007

The Light One Candle: A Child’s Diary of the Holocaust exhibit opens at the Holocaust Centre of Toronto.

January 27, 2008

Exhibit on Carl Lutz opens at the United Nations as part of the commemoration of the Holocaust.

Visa Retten Leben: Die “Gerechten Diplomaten” [Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats] exhibit opens in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

March 30, 2008

Visas for Life exhibit opens at the Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty museum. The exhibit is enhanced to include new diplomats who have been researched over the past number of years. The exhibit also has a special component honoring American diplomats and rescue agencies that saved Jews.

April 28-May 2, 2008

Visas for Life exhibit honoring American diplomats opens in Washington, DC, at the annual meeting of the American Jewish Committee. US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice is scheduled to attend the opening.

May 2008

The Light One Candle: A Child’s Diary of the Holocaust exhibit scheduled to open at the KZ Gedenkstätte Dachau [Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Museum]. The exhibit will open at a special reunion of survivors of the Dachau concentration camp from Israel. The exhibit is scheduled to tour to Landsberg and the city of Munich.

September 2008

Exhibit to open at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance honoring Ambassador Gilberto Bosques. The exhibit is curated by Eric Saul and sponsored jointly by ISRAH and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The exhibit will tour the United States after its showing there.

The Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Exhibit

The Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit originally premiered at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. It has also been shown at the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, Israel; and in Belgium; China; France; Germany; Great Britain; Hungary; Japan; Lithuania; Slovenia; South Africa; Sweden; Switzerland; as well as in many museums, schools, libraries and institutions throughout the United States and Canada.

This exhibit was prepared in cooperation with the families of these extraordinary diplomats. In curating the exhibit, we had access to the families’ private photo collections (containing many never-before seen Holocaust era photographs).

You can become part of the history of the Visas for Life Project. Our project depends on local communities for help with our educational mission. Coordinators and participants everywhere agree that hosting the exhibit is a very rewarding experience and most feel that it has changed their lives in a positive way.

If you are interested in obtaining information on how to host the exhibit, please contact us at VisasForLife@cs.com.

List of Diplomats Honored (Partial)

These are some of the diplomats whose stories are depicted in the Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats exhibit. These diplomats represent more then 27 countries.

Not all of the diplomats depicted in the exhibit have been recognized by Israel’s Holocaust remembrance authority, Yad Vashem, with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. Those who have been so honored are indicated on this list with an asterisk.

The Visas for Life Project has a somewhat different set of criteria from Yad Vashem for honoring diplomats. For example, some diplomats are Jewish or for other reasons did not meet Yad Vashem’s criteria for being honored.

Many of these diplomats have been nominated for the Yad Vashem award, and we are awaiting the outcome of their decision. This fact does not preclude these diplomats from being depicted in the Visas for Life exhibit or being honored in international venues.

Per Anger*, Secretary of the Swedish Legation in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-1945

Count Folke Bernadotte, Swedish Red Cross, Germany, 1945

Hiram Bingham^†, US Vice Consul in Marseilles, France, 1940-1941

Friedrich Born*, Red Cross of Switzerland in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-1945

Gilberto Bosques, Mexican Consul General, Paris and Marseilles, France, 1939-1943

Carlos de Liz-Texeira Branquinho*, Portuguese Chargé d’Affaires in Budapest, 1944-1945

Monsignor Andrea Cassulo, Vatican Nuncio, Bucharest, Romania, 1936-1947

Giuseppe Castrucci, Italian Consul General in Salonika, Greece, 1943

Rives Childs, US Consul General in Tangier, Algeria, 1944

Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz*, German Consul in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1943

Harald Feller*, Swiss Chargé d’Affaires in Budapest, 1944-1945

Frank Foley*, British Vice Consul in Charge of Visas in Berlin, 1933-1939

Dr. Raymond Herman Geist, American Consul General and First Secretary, US Embassy in Berlin, 1929-1939

Dr. Feng Shan Ho*^‡, Chinese Consul General in Vienna, 1938-1940

Dr. Valdemar Langlet* and Nina Langlet*, Swedish Red Cross Delegate in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-1945

Charles “Carl” Lutz*, Consul for Switzerland in Budapest, Hungary, 1942-1945, and Gertrud Lutz*, Wife of Consul Carl Lutz, Budapest, Hungary

George Mandel Mantello, Acting First Secretary for El Salvador in Geneva, 1942-1945 (Jewish diplomat)

Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes*, Portuguese Consul, Bordeaux, France, June 1940

Giorgio Perlasca*, “Chargé d’Affaires” of the Spanish Legation, Budapest, 1944-1945

Ernst Prodolliet*, Swiss Consul General in Bregenz, Austria, 1938-1939

Archbishop Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Papal Nuncio (Ambassador) in Istanbul, Turkey, 1943-1945

Monsignor Angelo Rotta*, Italy, Papal Nuncio (Ambassador) in Budapest, 1944-1945

Don Angel Sanz-Briz*, Spain, Ambassador in Budapest, 1944

Henryk Slawik*, Polish Chargé d’Affaires in Budapest, Hungary, 1944

Laurence A. Steinhardt, US Ambassador to USSR 1939-1941, and Turkey 1942-1945 (Jewish diplomat)

Chiune Sugihara*, Consul for Japan in Kovno, Lithuania, 1940

Selahattin Ülkümen*, Turkish Consul General in Rhodes, July 1944

Father Gennaro Verolino*, Vatican representative in Budapest, 1944-1945

Ernst Vonrufs*, Acting representative of Swiss interests in Budapest, 1944-1945

Raoul Wallenberg*, Swedish Special Envoy in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-1945

Li Yu-Ying, Chinese Consul, Marseilles, France, 1940

Guelfo Zamboni, Italian Consul General in Salonika, Greece, 1941-1943

Peter Zürcher*, Acting Representative of Swiss Interests in Budapest, 1945

Jan Zwartendijk*, Acting Dutch Consul in Kovno, Lithuania, 1940

* Recognized by the State of Israel as Righteous among the Nations.

^†Recognized by the State of Israel with Letter of Commendation.

‡ Not included in Visas for Life exhibit.

Jewish Rescuers Project

Introduction: Jewish Rescuers Project

In Slovakia, the deportation trains stopped in 1942 due to inspired negotiation with the Nazis by the Bratislava Working Group under leadership of Rabbi Michael Weissmandl and Ms. Gisi Fleischmann. The deportation trains from Hungary stopped in mid-1944 when a Romanian-Hungarian Jew, George Mantello, publicized the atrocities of Auschwitz and thereby ignited the conscience of the Swiss people which led to the first major public protest against the Holocaust and severe warning to Hungary regent by leaders of the free world. Tens of thousands of Jews were spirited out of Europe by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, who expended millions of dollars and sent agents all over Europe to rescue Jews.

Hundreds of Jews participated in the rescue of their fellow Jews during the Nazi period and the Holocaust, 1933-1945.

There were more than 200 Jewish rescue organizations active both inside and outside Nazi occupied territory. These rescue organizations were comprised of hundreds of brave and innovative individuals.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews were saved.

The rescue of Jews by Jews in Nazi occupied territory was extremely dangerous. Not only were Jews subject to the normal persecution and threat of deportation and murder, but they were also in double jeopardy. Many Jews were killed by the Nazis for protecting Jews. Some Jews came out of hiding to rescue fellow Jews. Others delayed their own opportunity to escape the Nazis in order to remain to help their fellow Jews.

Organized and individual rescue of Jews by Jews took place in virtually every country and under every circumstance during the Nazi occupation of Europe. Rescue took many forms, including hiding Jews or helping them escape, providing false documents, providing food and medical supplies, warning their fellow Jews about impending actions and deportations, and warning the world. Jewish philanthropic organizations raised and distributed millions of dollars to keep Jews alive in Nazi occupied Europe. They helped hundreds of thousands of Jews escape to safe havens throughout the free world.

Purpose

There has been no unified attempt, to date, to document or honor Jewish rescuers and rescue organizations. It is the purpose of ISRAH to create a project that will do so.

It is the intention of ISRAH to facilitate and promote the recognition of Jewish rescue in the Shoah.

Specifically, ISRAH will do the following: publish books and articles; create an international traveling exhibit; create a commemorative medal; have the Israeli post office issue commemorative postage stamps.

Most importantly, ISRAH will encourage Holocaust museums to create an exhibit on Jewish rescue and add it to their permanent displays.

Honoring Jewish Rescuers and Organizations

Jewish rescuers to be honored are individuals and organizations who, on their own initiative, had been actively and directly involved in saving one or more fellow Jews from being killed or sent to a ghetto, transit camp or co