Institute
for the Study of Rescue
and
Altruism in the Holocaust,
a
nonprofit corporation
and the
Visas for Life:
The Righteous and Honorable
Diplomats Project
A Project Honoring
Individuals and Organizations
That Rescued Jews and Others During the Holocaust, 1933-45
Eric Saul, Executive Director and Curator
Tel. 304.599.0614
E-mail: VisasForLife@cs.com

Content updated March 5, 2008
Contents
Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in
the Holocaust, a nonprofit corporation (ISRAH)
Visas for Life: The
Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project
History of Diplomatic Rescue 1933-1945
History of the Visas for Life Project
The Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable
Diplomats Exhibit
List of Diplomats Honored (Partial)
Sponsoring and Cooperating Agencies
Visas for Life and ISRAH in the News
Visas for Life Exhibit Dedication Activities at Ellis Island Museum
Directions to Ellis Island Ferry and Ferry Schedule
Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust, a nonprofit corporation (ISRAH)
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
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
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
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."
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
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
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
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.
The Visas for Life project began in 1994 by honoring
Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat in
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
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
1994
Street
in
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
1995
Visas for Life: The Story of Sugihara exhibit and program is launched in
the
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
Sugihara
exhibit opens at the California State Capitol,
May 1995
June 1995
Carl Lutz und die Juden von Budapest, by Dr. Theo Tschuy, is published
(NZZ Buchverlag,
September
1995
Visas for Life exhibit featuring Chiune Sugihara
shown at the
October 1995
Aristides
de Sousa Mendes presented with the Gran Cross of the Order of Christ, the
highest medal awarded to civilians in
November
30, 1995
Swiss
policeman Paul Grüninger acquitted of all charges related to allowing more than
3,600 Jews to enter
1996
Visas for Life: The Righteous
Diplomats Project
premieres exhibit depicting multiple diplomats in
Visas
for Life Project translates, edits and publishes Yukiko Sugihara's biography, Visas for Life.
March
1997
Visas for Life exhibit opens at the
1997
Dutch
Honorary Consul Jan Zwartendijk, who was stationed in
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
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
September 28, 1997
Dr.
Feng Shan Ho dies in
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
April
1998
Visas for Life: The Righteous
Diplomats exhibit opens at
October 1998
Visas for Life: The Righteous
Diplomats exhibit is translated into German and
opens at
November
1998
The
Visas for Life Project curates a separate version of the Visas for Life: The Righteous Diplomats exhibit that will tour in
Visas
for Life Project curates photo exhibit on the Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz. Exhibit opens at the Swiss consulate in
May
1999
Visas for Life: The Righteous
Diplomats exhibit opens in
October
1999
British
diplomat who was stationed in
Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews, by Michael Smith, is published in
Visas
for Life Project curates separate exhibit on the life and rescue activities of
Chinese diplomat Dr. Feng Shan Ho, who rescued Jews in
November 1999
Dr.
Harald Feller and Peter Zürcher, Swiss diplomats in
Aristides
de Sousa Mendes is honored by the European Parliament.
1999
Agnes
Hirschi, daughter of Carl Lutz, who lives in
Israeli
Foreign Ministry tours the Visas for Life
exhibit through its embassies and cultural ministry. Exhibit is shown throughout
Jean-Edouard
Friedrich, Swiss diplomat stationed in
January 2000
Visas for Life: The Righteous
Diplomats exhibit opens at the International
Forum on the Holocaust in
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
July
2000
Visas for Life: The Righteous
Diplomats exhibit opens at the United Nations
European headquarters in
August 2000
Visas for Life exhibit opens at the
September 2000
Ambassador
Per Anger becomes honorary citizen of the state of
Dr.
Ho is awarded the Righteous Among the Nations award by the state of
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
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,
Book
on Spanish diplomat Don Angel Sanz-Briz, Un
Espańol 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
Elow
Kihlgren, Swedish diplomat stationed in
Florian
Manoliu, Romanian diplomat stationed in
Howard
Elting, Sr.,
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
Nobel
Peace Prize laureate from
August 2001
Monument
for Raoul Wallenberg is dedicated in
September 2001
Three
versions of the Visas for Life
exhibit honoring Dr. Feng Shan Ho are exhibited in
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
2002
Ambassador
Per Anger, Raoul Wallenberg's colleague in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45, passes
away.
Consul
General Necdet Kent, Turkish Consul in
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
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,
August 4, 2002
Raoul Wallenberg’s 90th birthday
is celebrated. Renewed interest in his
story is generated.
October 2002
Visas for Life exhibit shown at
Visas for Life exhibit shown at
US
Congressman Tom Lantos from
November 2002
Visas for
Life exhibit opens at St. Mary's College in
The Visas
for Life exhibit adds the role of Italian diplomats who rescued Jews in
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
December 2002
Visas for Life exhibit opens at the Cape Town
Holocaust Centre in
Sugihara
memorial statue is dedicated in
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
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,
Light One Candle: A Child’s Diary of
the Holocaust
exhibit (includes story of Japanese
diplomat Chiune Sugihara) opens at the YIVO institute in
June 7, 2003
Selahattin
Ülkümen, the Turkish diplomat who saved Jews on the
September
2003
A
memorial plaque honoring Jan Zwartendijk was unveiled in
Visas for Life exhibit opens at the City Hall in
Alison
Leslie Gold publishes Fiet’s Vase and
Other Stories of Survival,
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 10th 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
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
Dr.
Harald Feller passes away in
2004
Members of the Emergency
Rescue Committee who worked with Varian Fry in
January
2004
Exhibit
entitled Raoul Wallenberg – One Man Can
Make a Difference opens in
February
2004
Visas for Life exhibit opens at the
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
May
2004
Light One Candle: Child’s Diary of the
Holocaust exhibition opens at the
July 2004
Visas
for Life Project nominates Father Gennaro Verolino, Secretary to Angelo Rotta
in
July
26, 2004
Visas for Life: The Righteous and
Honorable Diplomats exhibition opens at the Hungarian
Foreign Ministry building in
September
2004
Visas
for Life Project has program in
December
2004
Yad
Vashem agrees to present Hiram Bingham IV, the
The
Israeli Knesset agrees to continue investigation regarding the disappearance of
Raoul Wallenberg in the former
March 2005
Yad
Vashem honors Hiram “Harry” Bingham IV with a letter of commendation in
appreciation for “facilitating the immigration of Jewish persons from
April
2005
Visas
for Life exhibit opens in
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
WGBH,
the Public Broadcasting System affiliate in
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
June 9, 2006
The
Visas for Life Project becomes a
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
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
March
24, 2007
Dedication
of
June
2007
Visas
for Life Project prepares special exhibit on Ambassador Gilberto Bosques and the rescue of Jews in
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
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,
March
30, 2008
Visas
for Life exhibit opens at the Ellis Island/Statue of
April
28-May 2, 2008
Visas
for Life exhibit honoring American diplomats opens in
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
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
The Visas for Life:
The Righteous Diplomats exhibit originally premiered at the Simon
Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance in
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.
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
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
Hiram
Bingham†, US
Vice Consul in Marseilles, France, 1940-1941
Friedrich
Born*, Red Cross of
Gilberto
Bosques, Mexican Consul General,
Carlos
de Liz-Texeira Branquinho*, Portuguese Chargé d’Affaires in
Monsignor
Andrea Cassulo,
Giuseppe
Castrucci, Italian Consul General in
Rives
Childs, US Consul General in Tangier,
Georg Ferdinand
Duckwitz*, German Consul in
Harald Feller*,
Swiss Chargé d’Affaires in
Frank Foley*, British Vice Consul in
Charge of Visas in
Dr.
Raymond Herman Geist, American Consul General and First
Dr. Feng
Shan Ho*‡, Chinese Consul General in
Dr.
Valdemar Langlet* and Nina Langlet*, Swedish Red Cross Delegate in
Budapest, Hungary, 1944-1945
Charles “Carl” Lutz*, Consul
for
George
Mandel Mantello, Acting First Secretary for
Dr.
Aristides de Sousa Mendes*, Portuguese Consul,
Giorgio
Perlasca*, “Chargé d’Affaires” of the Spanish Legation,
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*,
Don
Angel Sanz-Briz*,
Henryk
Slawik*, Polish Chargé d’Affaires in
Laurence
A. Steinhardt, US Ambassador to
Chiune
Sugihara*, Consul for
Selahattin
Ülkümen*, Turkish Consul General in
Father
Gennaro Verolino*, Vatican representative
in
Ernst
Vonrufs*, Acting representative of Swiss
interests in
Raoul
Wallenberg*, Swedish Special Envoy in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-1945
Li
Yu-Ying, Chinese Consul,
Guelfo
Zamboni, Italian Consul General in
Salonika, Greece, 1941-1943
Peter
Zürcher*, Acting Representative of Swiss Interests in
Jan Zwartendijk*, Acting Dutch Consul in
Introduction: Jewish Rescuers Project
In
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
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
concentration camp when the Jews were
trapped in a country under the control of the Nazis or their collaborators during the period of the
Holocaust, 1933-1945. They are also
individuals and organizations who provided vital funds, food, medicine, etc.,
for Jewish survival. They also include
Jews who warned Jews of the impending disaster, who even negotiated with the
Nazis to stop transports and who relentlessly pressured free world governments
to intercede. Some rescue initiatives
failed. These attempts should be
recorded and these Jewish rescuers honored nonetheless.
This includes those Jews who worked behind enemy lines, in ghettoes,
transit camps, concentration camps and death camps. It also includes Jews who worked from
countries not under Nazi and Fascist rule.
It should also include Jews who warned their fellow Jews and the world
of the impending disaster, who pressured free world governments to intercede on
the Jews behalf, who negotiated with the Nazis to ransom Jewish communities, as
well as those who provided relief and funding to their fellow Jews so that they
could survive.
The Project would also honor Jewish organizations that were active in
the rescue of Jews. These would include
both organizations that worked inside Nazi occupied territory, such as the
Bratislava Working Group, the Relief Organization for Jewish Refugees Abroad
(Recha and Isaac Sternbuch), Va’ad Hatsala, the Jewish youth underground in Budapest,
Mossad Aliyah Bet, Perl Transport (Af-Al-Pi,
“Despite Everything”), Delegation for the Assistance of Immigrants (DELASEM),
Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews), Refugee Aid Committee in Romania, the Mouvement de Jeunesse Sioniste
(MJS; Zionist Youth Movement), Eclaireurs Israelite de France (EIF), He Halutz
Youth Movement, and organizations that operated outside of Nazi occupied
territories. These would include such
organizations as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and
the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS-ICA-EMIGDIRECT; HICEM),
the Bergson Group (Hillel Kook) and the Rescue Committee of the United States
Orthodox Rabbis. Individuals within the
organization will be honored as well if they had an exemplary record of rescue
and if they did not obstruct rescue. .
A critical analysis of the success of some of these organizations in
the rescue of Jews would be appropriate.
Also, a study of the individuals who worked within these organizations
and the characteristics that made them successful. Many of the individual rescuers and
organizations displayed a high degree of creativity, imagination, initiative,
spontaneity and adaptability.
The Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust, a
nonprofit corporation, is working with the Jews Who Rescued Jews Committee,
chaired by Haim Roet, and the Jerusalem Working Group, chaired by Larry
Pfeffer.
Diplomats
for the Damned is a one-hour documentary produced in cooperation
with the History Channel. It depicts
four of diplomats: Charles “Carl” Lutz, Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Georg
Ferdinand Duckwitz and Hiram “Harry” Bingham, IV.
Sugihara:
Conspiracy of Kindness is a one-hour documentary on the rescue activities
of Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara.
Sponsoring
and Cooperating Agencies
Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats
Project is sponsored by and produced in cooperation with the following
organizations:
American Foreign Service Association
American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith
Association of Holocaust Organizations
Jewish Foundation for the Righteous
Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States
Simon Wiesenthal Center, Museum of Tolerance
US State Department
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Wallenberg Society of
the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford
Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’
Remembrance Authority
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Visas for
Life and ISRAH
in the News
The
following are some excerpts of news articles published on the Visas for
Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats exhibit and project.
Editorial on Visas for Life in the
“Diplomats of Uncommon Courage”
by Jeff Jacoby - October
22, 2002
Who, thinking of heroes, thinks of diplomats?
"Diplomats were invented simply to waste time," an exasperated David
Lloyd George once remarked -- and, he might have added, to dissemble, to defend
the indefensible, to procrastinate, to hide behind jargon, to steer clear of
moral judgment, and to never take risks. It takes certain skills to be a
successful diplomat, but courage is not commonly thought of as one of them.
And in
fairness, why would it be? The diplomat speaks for his government, not for
himself. His job is to toe the government's line and enforce its rules,
whatever that line and those rules might be. If he has objections, he is
expected to keep them to himself. If he can't keep them to himself, he is
expected to resign.
What
brings these thoughts to mind is "Visas for Life," a deeply moving
exhibit that tells the story of 48 diplomats in Nazi Europe who risked their
careers and sometimes their lives to rescue Jews and other refugees during the
Holocaust. The exhibit has already traveled to more than 100 venues worldwide;
it is now at the Boston University Gallery on
Diplomacy
played a shameful role in paving the way for the Holocaust. In July 1938,
facing a rising flood of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany and
And nothing
was what most of the diplomatic corps did. As the Nazis began deporting the
Jews of Austria to
They were
only following orders, of course. To do otherwise would have been to violate
their governments' policies and be seen as insubordinate -- behavior most
undiplomatic.
Only Feng
Shan Ho, the Chinese consul in
Saving
refugees' lives meant flouting Chinese government policy, for Chiang Kai-shek,
the Nationalist Chinese ruler, was an admirer of the Nazis. It meant angering
Ho's superior, Ambassador Chen Jie in
"Visas
for Life" is decidedly low-tech: wall-mounted photographs and text. Its
power is in the stories it tells -- stories of bravery and character, of
ordinary men driven by extraordinary moral courage.
The
legendary Raoul Wallenberg is here, of course. But so are others far less
known:
* Harry Bingham, the
* Chiune
Sugihara, the Japanese consul in
* Carl
Lutz, the Swiss consul in
At a time when more prudent men looked the other way, there were a
few, a very few, who had the greatness to act. Who, thinking of heroes, thinks
of diplomats? I do, now.
Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The
Boston Globe, where this article originally appeared.
"Visas for Life" can be seen through Nov. 6, 2002, at the
Boston University Gallery,
©2002 - The
Visas for Life Discovers Feng Shan Ho
“A Righteous Father”
by Claudia Cornwall
Reader’s Digest,
September 2001
For
nearly six decades, Feng Shan Ho’s extraordinary courage remained a
secret. Then two people joined forces to
uncover the truth.
It was threatening to rain as Manli Ho walked
towards Yad Vashem, high on a hill overlooking western
The auditorium at the Yad Vashem memorial was
packed when Manli reached the front. The
slim, pretty woman, wearing a black cheongsam under her jacket, looked out over
a sea of faces. Among the dignitaries
was Ambassador Pan Zhanlin from
Justice Maltz announced that Feng Shan Ho had been
awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations, then presented Manli and her
older brother Monto with a medal. On one
side was the name of her father, and on the other, a Jewish proverb: “Whoever
saves one life is as though he has saved an entire world.”
Manli told the audience that her father would have
been astonished, never expecting praise for his actions. She quoted Shakespeare: “The evil that men do
lives after them/The good is oft interred with their bones.”
And except for a remarkable coincidence, the good
Feng Shan Ho did would have been lost to history too.
“It’s time for me to go,” Feng Shan Ho said one day
in June 1997. Manli’s eyes filled with
tears.
Her father had always been strong; even in his
eighties he took long walks, scrambling over the sand dunes on his way to
Three months later, on September 28, he passed
away, peacefully, in his bed.
Manli, who had once been a newspaper reporter, sat
down at her father’s desk, surrounded by his books, and finished writing his
obituary.
Ho was born in
Manli included his many diplomatic postings –
Then she remembered an incident from the distant
past. Her father was in
Although Manli didn’t have space for details, she
mentioned the confrontation with the Gestapo.
The she sent the obituary to the San Francisco Chronicle and the Boston
Globe, where she had once worked.
Events now took a surprising turn. Newspapers across the country picked up the
story, including the Sacramento Bee. There it caught the eye of Eric
Saul.
Saul, 47, was the owner of a picture-framing shop
in
Inspired by the man’s heroism, Saul had sunk his
life’s savings into researching, documenting and telling the stories of other
diplomats who had helped Jews during World War II. But he’d never heard of Feng Shan Ho.
Saul called directory assistance—the only “F. Ho”
listed was just a few kilometres away in Richmond District. Startled, Saul realised he might have passed
the man in the street. He dialled number,
and Manli Ho answered.
They met about a week later at David’s, a
well-known Jewish delicatessen in the area.
Amid the clatter and bustle of waitresses carrying plates of bagels and
blintzes, Saul pressed Manli for what she knew about the people her father had
helped.
Not much, she admitted, just that one story about
the Gestapo…
It took place on November 10, 1938, during Kristallnacht,
the infamous “Night of the Broken Glass,” when the synagogues in
Ho was
Mr. Rosenberg had been dragged away for
questioning; Ho was staying with Mrs. Rosenberg when two men wearing trench
coats burst in and announced they were going to search the house.
Manli remembered how her father imitated the men as
he told her what happened. He would pull
an imaginary hat down over his eyes, scowl and pretend to have a gun in his
pocket. He said one of the thugs pointed
a gun at him and demanded to know who he was.
“Who are you?” Ho responded, not intimidated.
A Gestapo agent ordered Mrs. Rosenberg to say who
her visitor was. “The Consul General of
China,” she replied.
“God damn it, why didn’t you tell me?” the agent
yelled. They left.
Mr. Rosenberg was released from questioning. Manli explained that her father had already
given the
“Why did he do it?” Saul asked.
“If you knew my father, you wouldn’t have to ask,”
Manli replied. “After seeing what was
happening to the Jews, he felt it was natural for any human to feel compassion
and to want to help.”
Saul smiled.
He had a hunch that the help did not end with the
A month later Saul spoke to Genya Markon, curator
at the
Soon afterwards, she got back to Saul. She had found someone in her records—an Eric
Goldstaub. Hew as in his mid-seventies,
living near
Excited, Saul phoned Manli with the news. She rushed over to his shop.
“You see,” he said, “it was b’sherrt,” a
Yiddish word for destiny.
Saul dialled
After Saul explained why he was calling, Goldstaub
said he had never met the Chinese consul and didn’t know who he was. Saul told him his name was Feng Shan Ho. “I have his daughter with me here. Would you like to talk to her?”
Goldstaub was stunned.
“I never had the chance to talk to your father,” he
told Manli. “I’m so grateful to him.”
Goldstaub began telling his story.
He was 17, he said, a happy-go-lucky secondary
school student in
“Jews weren’t wanted anywhere,” Goldstaub
said. Then he passed the Chinese
consulate on
To his surprise, there would be no problem getting
a visa. So he asked for 20—enough for
his parents and himself as well as his relatives.
The Goldstaubs booked passage on an Italian ship
leaving on December 20, 1938. But on
November 10—the very same day that Feng Shan Ho stared down the
Gestapo—Goldstaub and his father were arrested.
“But we were lucky,” Goldstaub said. “We had our visas and ship tickets; they let
us go. Those visas saved our lives.”
Before they hung up, Saul asked if Goldstaub had
one of the visas. Goldstaub promised to
send one.
About a month later, a package from
Eric Saul told Manli they would find others, and
find them they did—scattered all over the world. In July 1999, they met Hedy Durlester in
From her father’s autobiography, Manli learned that
the Chinese ambassador in
But Ho ignored the order. The visa her father had issued to Durlester’s
father was dated exactly a month before the one received by Eric Goldstaub’s
uncle. Comparing the two serial numbers,
Manli saw that 900 visas had been issued in one month alone.
Later, her brother Monto found a report, written by
her father’s successor, about these visas.
Until Ho left
One of them, Hans Kraus, waited vainly in the line
outside the Chinese embassy for days. Desperate,
he saw Ho’s car and thrust his papers into the open window. Kraus received a visa a few days later.
Another, Kalman Singer, had been refused entry to
62 countries until Ho authorised his family’s visas. They would board the last ship sailing to the
Sitting in the auditorium at Yad Vashem last
January, Susie Margalit, 76, thought about the Chinese man who was being
honoured. Her father had been imprisoned
in
After the war, Susie Margalit had emigrated to
“Every time I meet another person who he helped,
it’s as if he lives on through them,” says Manli. She calls these people her mishpocheh,
a Yiddish word meaning “family.”
Near the Sea of Galilee in the foothills of
By Globe
Staff writer, Charles M. Sennott
A ceremony
honored the late Feng-Shan Ho, the Chinese consul general in
The story
of Ho's quiet heroism six decades ago probably would have been lost to history
had it not been for a single sentence written in his obituary, a chance phone
phone call, and then a dogged investigation by his daughter.
Ho's
daughter, Man-li HO, 50, a former Boston Globe reporter, wrote the obituary for
her father, which was published in the Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle
after his death at the age of 96 on Sept. 28, 1997. She included in the
obituary a passing reference to the fact that Ho had helped save Jews on the
eve of World War II.
Man-li
said she did not know the specifics of what her father had done. He never
talked about it much, other than a few passing references, she said. His work
was briefly stated in an autobiography he wrote on his life as a diplomat over
40 years of service for
"It
didn't surprise me that he never mentioned this," said Man-li, who along
with her older brother, Mon-to, accepted the award. "To him, helping human
beings in distress was something that any person would do."
A few days
after the death of her father, Man-li, who lives in
For years,
Saul had searched for information on 100 diplomats who he estimated had saved
250,000 European Jews during the Holocaust. Saul had read the elder Ho's
obituary and wanted to know whether Man-li had any more information on her
father.
Thus began
Man-li's research. As she pored over books and old files, worked the Internet,
and consulted with Saul, she began to piece together the story.
Nazi
Germany annexed
With the
takeover, the Austrians eagerly and efficiently pursued the Nazis' plans, and
an office established under Adolf Eichmann to expel
At the
time, many Western countries, including the
As a
result, Jews were desperate for any way out. Ho would help Jews who came to him
by issuing entry visas to
Ho was
under orders from his superior, the Chinese ambassador in
As Man-li
would later learn, some of the Jews actually traveled to
One of the
people who was saved by Ho was Frida Rogel, 68, who was on hand for the
ceremony honoring him yesterday. She was a 7-year-old girl in 1940, when her
parents, Joseph and Paula, received the visa from Ho. They spent the next nine
years in
"I
would like to thank him for saving our lives," Rogel said, as she walked with
Man-li through Yad Vashem's forest at the foot of
(Credit of
the above article goes to Globe Staff writer, Charles M. Sennott.)
Visas for Life Curates Exhibition on Ambassador
Gilberto Bosques
Gilberto Bosques,
the “Mexican Schindler” honored
[Excerpt
downloaded 2/9/08 from http://mexfiles.wordpress.com/category/ciudad-de-mexico/santa-maria-de-la-ribera/]
One of the heros of the Mexican diplomatic corps is
being honored with an exhibit at the Museo Histórico
Judío y del
Holocausto Tuvie Maizel (
He
is often called “The Mexican Schindler” for his work during the Second World
War, when as Mexico’s Consul General in France, he aided 40,000 refuges –
Spanish Republicans, French Jews, Lebanese and others facing persecution, among
them leaders of the European opposition and members of the antifascist
resistence.
Described
as “a Mexican hero” or a “savior” or simply “brave,” he spent a year as a
prisoner of war of the Germans, where – together with his family and
collaborators – his dignified attitude was the epitome of Mexican diplomacy of
the era, gaining even the respect of his jailers.
His
name was Gilberto Bosques, born in 1892 in
For
everything he was, the Jewish community in
Embajador Gilberto Bosques:
un hombre de todos los tiempos
(Ambassador Gilberto Bosques: a man for all times) opened last week at the
Museo Histórico Judío y del Holocausto Tuvie Maizel (
In
88 photos, the exposition covers the life of Gilberto Bosques from his birth to
his death in 1995. The images and information sheets are organized in 25
panels, and include photos of the almost unknown French Holocaust.
All
the images are copies from the Bosques family archives. The museum has plans to
show the exhibit in other locations. The curator, Erick Saúl, of the
Saving lives, raising
spirits
The
exposition includes images from throughout Bosques’ long and varied
career: his participation in the 1910 Revolution when he was 17; as a
His
diplomatic career began at shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War,
when he was tasked with carrying out the foreign policy of presidents
Lázaro Cárdenas and then Manuel Avila Camacho.
Under
the leadership of Mexican Minister to France, Luis I.
Rodríguez, Bosques embarked on a series of adventures in his quest to
obtain visas and safe-conduct passes for those persecuted by the Germans in
In
the French port, he used his role as Mexican Consul General to rent two
chateaux (Reynarde and Montegrande) to house and protect hundreds of refugees
marked for deportation to concentration and extermination camps, while he
arranged for their exit. In the chateaux, he organized artistic activities to
“raise the spirit” of the persecuted.
In
Bosques
resisted them all. The French and – above all – the Germans, until on his
recommendation,
“We
have read the rules you have laid down for Mexican personnel and will abide by
them. However, as
In
1944, the Mexican were liberated and repatriated in a prisoner exchange with
the Germans who were held in the concentration center at
After
the war, Bosques was appointed Mexican Minister to
Don
Gilberto’s daughter, Laura Bosques, recalled her family’s experiences in
“It
was an era of intense drama. Along with everyone else, my parents and my
brothers and I were aware of the suffering. The War was a tremendous thing that
should never have happened, and the violence continues to this day.”
Laura
Bosques spoke with us in the offices at the Centro Comunitario Nidjei
“Gilberto
Bosques was a Mexican hero. With this exhibit the museum and the Jewish
community in
If you ever wondered how Ilsa and Victor
Lazlo got to
Eric Saul served as founding curator of the
In 1980, Eric Saul co-founded of the Go For Broke 100th/442nd/MIS
Foundation, later called the National Japanese American Historical Society
(NJAHS). He was curator from 1981 to
1987, producing exhibits including East
to America, which chronicled the story of Japanese American immigration to
the
Eric Saul has been Guest Curator at the
In 1993, Eric Saul founded the Visas for Life: The
Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project to document and honor Japanese
diplomat Chiune Sugihara. In 1996,
the project expanded to honor all diplomats who helped Jews during the war.
Under his direction, the Visas for Life Project created six traveling exhibits
on the topic of diplomatic rescue, which have been shown in more than 150
institutions worldwide, including: the Stockholm International Forum on the
Holocaust; the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva; the
headquarters of the European Union, the Japanese Parliament; Yad Vashem
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority; and the US Capitol in Washington,
DC.
Saul has
independently curated a number of additional traveling exhibits. In 1997, he created a series of traveling
exhibits and programs on Chinese diplomat Dr. Feng Shan Ho. The exhibit traveled to numerous venues in
the
In 2006, the Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable
Diplomats Project became a nonprofit organization under the umbrella of the
Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust, a nonprofit
corporation (ISRAH). The mission expanded
to document a comprehensive history of rescue, relief and altruism during the
Holocaust. As Executive Director of
ISRAH, Eric Saul continues to document rescue, and has nominated many
individuals for the title of Righteous Among the Nations.
In 2007, Saul instituted a major research program to
document and honor Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. Saul has created a major database of Jewish
rescue organizations and Jewish rescuers.
He is cooperating with two programs in
Eric Saul has been a consultant on numerous documentary
films, including Yankee Samurai
(1981), The Color of Honor (1982), Nisei Soldier (1984), and the Holocaust documentaries
entitled Diplomats for the Damned
(1999) and Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness
(2000).
Eric Saul was an early
consultant for Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History
Foundation.
Eric Saul was the co-author of The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 (1982) and contributed to Go For Broke: The Story of the Japanese
American Soldier in World War II (1981).
He was coeditor of Yukiko Sugihara’s memoir, Visas for Life (1995). He
also authored Unlikely Liberators: The
Story of Chiune Sugihara and Japanese Americans of the 522nd Field
Artillery (1995).
Eric Saul is presently co-authoring a major new book on
diplomatic rescue with historian Sir
Martin Gilbert.
Abigail Bingham Endicott, daughter of US Vice
Consul Hiram Bingham IV
Solly Ganor, Holocaust survivor, visa recipient,
author
Agnes Hirschi, daughter of Swiss Consul Carl Lutz
Dr. Becky Kook, daughter of Peter H. Bergson
(Hillel Kook)
Enrico Mantello, son of El Salvadoran Consul George
Mandel Mantello
Peter Rosenblatt, nephew of US Ambassador Laurence
Steinhardt
Mehmet Ülkümen, son of Turkish Consul General
Selahattin Ülkümen
Louise von Dardel, niece of Swedish diplomat Raoul
Wallenberg
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize
laureate
José Ramos Horta, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Holocaust
survivor
The Institute for the
Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust, a nonprofit corporation (ISRAH)
is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation (77-0662605). All donations are tax deductible, to the
extent provided by law.
We are grateful for all
donations to support the programs that honor rescuers of the Holocaust. Some of the activities your contributions can
support are: ongoing research on diplomatic and public rescue; collecting
materials, such as photographs and oral histories; publishing scholarly
articles; and showing of exhibits, including: Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats; Light One Candle: A Child’s Diary of the Holocaust;
Liberation: Revealing the Unspeakable; or other exhibits; production of Israeli State
medals honoring diplomatic rescuers.
Please contact us if you are interested in making a charitable
contribution to support the many programs of ISRAH. We would be glad to send you a prospective of
programs that you might wish to support or endow.
Eric Saul
Executive
Director and Curator
Visas for
Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project
Institute
for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust, a nonprofit corporation
Tel. (304)
599-0614
E-mail: VisasForLife@cs.com
The Righteous and Honorable
Diplomats
Schedule of Events
An Exhibit Honoring
Diplomats Who Rescued Jews and
Other Refugees
During the Holocaust, 1933-45
at Ellis Island and Statue of
in Cooperation with
The National Park Service
and
American Jewish Committee
Wallenberg Society of the Jewish
Federation of Greater
World Jewish Congress
Anti-Defamation League of B’nai
Brith
United Jewish Communities
Jewish National Fund
Jewish Foundation for the
Righteous
Museum of Jewish Heritage
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
American Foreign Service
Association
US State Department
Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the
Thanks to
American Gathering of Jewish
Holocaust Survivors
Visas for Life: The Righteous and
Honorable Diplomats Project
Eric Saul, Executive Director
Visas
for Life Exhibit Dedication Activities at
The following is a schedule for the Visas for Life:
The Righteous Diplomats exhibit opening programs at the
The leadership of the Jewish community and many
organizations will be attending the exhibit opening programs. Members of the diplomatic community in
We have also invited many of the Holocaust
organizations and survivor groups in the
Look forward to seeing you at the programs.
Eric Saul
Executive Director
Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable
Diplomats Project
Tel. 304-599-0614
E-mail: VisasForLife@cs.com
Sunday, March 30, 2008 –Visas for Life Exhibit Dedication on
Please wear comfortable clothing and shoes.
9:00 a.m. Please arrive at the
10:15 a.m.
(approximate) Arrival at the dock,
10:30-11:00 a.m. Go
directly to the auditorium for the Visas for Life exhibit opening
ceremony. Please note that there is
limited seating in this auditorium, so please take your invitations and go
directly there.
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Visas for Life exhibit opening
ceremony. This program will include
speeches by leaders of the Jewish community, presentation of certificates, and
an award ceremony. In addition, there
will be an excerpt of a professional musical play presented on Raoul
Wallenberg. Kim Bingham, son of
The following organizations will participate and
honor the diplomats: the American Jewish Committee, the Wallenberg Society of
the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, the Anti-Defamation League, the
Simon Wiesenthal Center – Museum of Tolerance, the World Jewish Congress, the
United Jewish Communities, the Jewish National Fund, the Jewish Foundation for
the Righteous, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Hebrew Immigrant
Aid Society, the American Foreign Service Association, the US State Department,
Thanks to Scandinavia, the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors,
and the National Park Service.
12:30-12:45 p.m. Ribbon cutting for the Visas for Life
exhibit. Everyone is invited. Families will cut the ribbon. The ribbon cutting ceremony will also be
attended by embassies and diplomatic missions in
12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch
(no host). Public cafeteria at
1:30-2:30 p.m. The Raoul Wallenberg musical and
presentations by family members of diplomats who were involved in the rescue of
Jews in
2:30-3:30 p.m. Tour of the Ellis Island Immigration Station
museum by Park Service rangers. We will
take a group portrait of all of the families and participants in the
Registration Room.
4:00-5:30 p.m. Take ferry back to
Monday, March 31, 2008 – Museum of Jewish Heritage and American Jewish
Committee Reception
10:00-11:30
a.m. Tour of the
This is
one of the largest and most impressive Holocaust museums in the world. It is located in the Battery Park area of
11:30-12:30
p.m. Lunch at
Museum cafeteria (no host).
1:30-3:00
p.m. Afternoon historic program at the
To get to
the
Late
afternoon. American
Jewish Committee,
We will be
having a light reception at the offices of the American Jewish Committee for
our families and dignitaries.
The American Jewish Committee, established in 1906 by American Jews deeply
concerned about pogroms aimed at Russian Jews, determined that the best way to
protect Jewish populations in danger would be to work towards a world in which
all peoples were accorded respect and dignity.
Over 100 years later, AJC continues its efforts to promote pluralistic and
democratic societies where all minorities are protected. AJC is an
international think tank and advocacy organization that attempts to identify
trends and problems early - and take action.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 – Jewish History Center/YIVO and
9:00 a.m. Take subway or taxi to the Jewish History
Center, 15 West 16th Street (between 5th and 6th
Avenues),
To get to the Jewish History Center by Subway:
4,5,6,
L, N, Q, R, and W trains to the
F, V, L to the
1, 2, and 3 trains to the
10:00-11:30 a.m. Tour and historic program of the YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research at the Jewish History Center,15 West 16th
Street, Tel. 917-606-8292. The program
will be hosted by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (tel. 212-246-6080).
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated
to the history and culture of Ashkenazi Jewry and to its influence in the