Rescue in the Holocaust by Diplomats (Part 2)

Diplomats Who Rescued Jews

A-B                    C-J                    K-R              S-Z

* Recognized by the State of Israel as Righteous among the Nations, Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
** Recognized by the State of Israel with Letter of Commendation.

José Caballero, Argentine Counselor for Commercial Affairs in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1941-42

José Caballero sent reports to the Argentine Foreign Ministry about the persecution of Bulgarian Jews.  He personally was repulsed by the racial and economic laws enacted against Jews, and publicly condemned these actions.  Caballero protected numerous Argentine Jews in Bulgaria. He did this against the instructions received from the Argentine Foreign Ministry.  Specifically, he freed Jews from forced labor and other persecutions. On Caballero’s urging, the Argentine Foreign Ministry agreed to provide diplomatic protection to Jewish Argentine citizens.

[Feierstein, Daniel and Miguel Galante. “Argentina and the Holocaust: The conceptions and policies of Argentine diplomacy, 1933-1945.” Yad Vashem Studies, 27 (1999), 181-182, 191, 198, 200-201.]


Alberto Calisse, Italian Consul in Nice, France

Alberto Calisse was an Italian consul in Nice, France.  When he learned that foreign Jews in the region of the Alpes Maritimes were to be transferred and deported, Calisse insisted that all foreign Jews, not only Italians, should be exempted from deportation orders or other anti-Semitic Vichy measures.  He also argued that Vichy and German regulations regarding Jews should be disregarded in Italian-held territories.  For example, he refused to implement the law ordering the stamping of the word "Jew" on identity cards and ration books.  He further declared that Italy would apply the same legislation to Jews in the Italian zone as was applied in Italy itself. His inquiries to the Foreign Ministry led to the implementation of these protective policies toward Jews in the Italian zones of occupation.  Calisse worked with and was assisted by Roman Jewish banker Angelo Donati.

[Carpi, 1990, p. 730.  Carpi, Daniel. Between Mussolini and Hitler: The Jews and the Italian Authorities in France and Tunisia. (Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press, 1994), pp. 88-92, 97-98, 130, 145, 277n.20, 280n.47, 282n.66, 294n.14, 295n.22.  Herzer, 1989, pp. 219-220. Poliakov & Sabille, 1955, pp. 23-25, 51-55. Poznanski, 2001, pp. 386-387. Steinberg, 1990, p. 108. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 730.]


Mr. Cameracescu, Romanian Minister in Rome, 1943

Romanian diplomat Cameracescu issued protective papers to Jews in Rome, Italy, in 1943. He worked with the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem) and Father Marie-Benoit. 

[Waagenaar, Sam. The Pope’s Jews. (La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishers, 1974), pp. 394-395.]


Ambassador Sir Ronald Campbell, Great Britain, in Lisbon, Portugal, 1943-45

Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell was Great Britain's wartime Ambassador to Lisbon.  Campbell was responsible for obtaining transit visas for stranded Jews in Eastern Europe.  He persuaded Portugal to issue entrance visas.  In April 1944, he persuaded the British Colonial Office to give destination visas to more than 1,000 rabbis and their families.  The destination visas were to Mauritius, which was a destination in name only. Using these life-saving documents, the Jewish refugees were able to escape through Europe.

[Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 43-44, 50.  Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ:(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), p. 214.]


Prince Carl of Sweden, Head of the Swedish Red Cross

[Koblik, Steven. The Stones Cry Out: Sweden’s Response to the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1945. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1988), pp. 60, 203-205.  Swedish Foreign Office, The Swedish Relief Expedition to Germany 1945: Prelude and Negotiations [Stockholm, 1956], White Book, 1956; Koblik, 1988, pp. 60, 203-205; Persson, 2009, p. 78.]


Göte Carlsson, Swedish Consul in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Göte Carlsson was a Swedish diplomat stationed with the Swedish legation in Budapest in 1944-1945.  Along with Per Anger, Lars Berg and Raoul Wallenberg, he was active in rescuing Jews from the Nazi and Arrow Cross. 

[Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 1439. Anger, Per. Translated by David Mel Paul and Margareta Paul. With Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest: Memories of the War Years in Hungary. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981), pp. 55, 63f, 69, 78ff, 85, 121, 127, 129f. Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), p. 1088. Asaf, Uri. Christian support for Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary. In Braham, Randolph L. (Ed.) Studies on the Holocaust in Hungary, pp. 65-112. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 73. Skoglund, Elizabeth R. A Quiet Courage: Per Anger, Wallenberg’s Co-Liberator of Hungarian Jews. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), pp. 36, 99, 116.]


Mehmet Fuat Carm, Turkey, Consul General in Paris, 1943-1945

[Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993), pp. 147, 169, 332.]


Wilbur Carr, US Minister to Czechoslovakia, 1939

Wilbur Carr was the US Minister to Czechoslovakia at the time of the Nazi annexation.  In a report to the Secretary of State, March 19, 1939, he wrote:

“The Jewish population is terrified; as are Social democrats and also those closely associated with the former regime.  Consequently if action can be taken it should be done speedily.  While the British Legation seems to be hopeful of obtaining exit permits for most of its refugee cases I am personally doubtful whether Germany would be receptive to requests for the departure of political refugees and Jews but it would seem to be the humane duty of our Government to support some kind of international action to this end even though doubts may be entertained as to the outcome.”

[Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) report.  Rothkirchen, Livia. The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia: Facing the Holocaust. (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2005).]


John Carvel, British Consul General in Munich, 1939-?

John Carvel, the British Consul General in Munich, sent reports to the British Foreign Ministry regarding the horrific conditions inside the Dachau concentration camp.

[Gilbert, Martin. “British government policy towards Jewish refugees (November 1938-September 1939). Yad Vashem Studies, 13 (1979), 134.]


Alfredo Casanova, Portuguese Consul in Genoa, Italy, 1940-41?

Portuguese Consul Alfredo Casanova, stationed in Genoa, criticized Portuguese dictator Oliveira Salazar for his policy against protecting Jews in Nazi controlled areas.  In a letter to Salazar, Casanova argued that issuing irregular visas to Jews should be seen as praiseworthy and an act of humanity, and should not be condemned.  Casanova defended the action of Honorary Consul Magno in Milan who had issued visas to help Jews escape the Nazis and was discharged for this action.  Casanova himself had issued irregular visas to a group of nuns during the Spanish Civil War.  In reprisal, in November 1941, Salazar relieved Casanova of his post in Genoa, Italy, and replaced him with a Consul Second Class.

[Milgram, Avraham. “Portugal, the Consuls, and the Jewish Refugees, 1938-1941.” Yad Vashem Studies, 27 (1999), pp. 152-154.  Alfredo Casanova to Oliveira Salazar, Genoa, June 19, 1941, G.A. Magno file, YVA, M31/3459.  (Cited in Milgram, 1999).]


Casertano, Italian Envoy in Zagreb, 1942-43?

[Carpi, Daniel. "The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia." In Rescue Attempts During the Holocaust. Proceedings of the Second Yad Vashem International Historical Conference, edited by Y. Gutman & E. Zuroff. (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 474-476.]


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

Monsignor Andrea Cassulo was the Vatican nuncio in Bucharest, Romania.  Cassulo was appointed Nuncio in June 1936.  He was 72 years old.  In 1941, he began protecting baptized Jews in Romania.  He was responsible for protesting the deportation of Romanian Jews in 1942 and 1943.  He was tireless in his actions and his work was successful in saving Jewish lives.  He protested the deportations to the Romanian government and Nazi officials.  Cassulo worked closely with leaders of the Jewish community, including Chief Rabbi Dr. Alexander Safran and Swiss diplomat Rene de Weck.  Cassulo expedited relief efforts for deported Jews and served on committees establishing Jewish orphanages in Transnistria.  Cassulo remained in Bucharest until 1947, when he was forced to leave by the Communists.  He received many post-war commendations from the Jewish community.  He died in 1952 at age 83. 

[Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 25-47, 153, 199, 202, 216-220. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 306, 1297-1298, 1322. Vago, Bela. “Political and Diplomatic Activities for the Rescue of the Jews of Northern Transylvania.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 71-72. Safran, Alexandre. “The Rulers of Fascist Rumania Whom I Had to Deal With.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 179-180. Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945. (New York: The Beechhurst Press, 1953), p. 404. Lavi, Theodore. The Vatican’s Endeavours on Behalf of Roumanian Jewry during World War II. (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961), pp. 1333-1346. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), pp. 567, 579, 586. Pawlikowski, John T. The Catholic response to the Holocaust: Institutional perspectives.  In Berenbaum, Michael, and Abraham J. Peck (Eds.). The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined, pp. 551-565. (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998), pp. 557-559.  Herzer, 1989, p. 236. Butnaru, I. C. The Silent Holocaust: Romania and its Jews. Lavi, T. Rumanian Jewry in World War II: Fight for Survival. (Jerusalem, 1965). Hebrew.  Lavi, T. (Ed.). Rumania, Vol. 1.  In Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities. (Jerusalem, 1969). Hebrew. Conway, John S. “Records and documents of the Holy See relating to the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), 327-345. Lavi, T. “Documents on the struggle of Rumanian Jewry for its rights during the Second World War.” Yad Vashem Studies, 4 (1960), 310. Lapide, Pinchas E. Three Popes and the Jews. (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1967), pp. 163-169.]


Colonel José Arturo Castellanos*, Consul General for El Salvador in Geneva, Switzerland, 1942-45

Colonel José Arturo Castellanos was the Salvadoran Consul General in Geneva, Switzerland in 1942-45.  He appointed George Mandel-Mantello, a Romanian Jewish refugee living in Geneva, as the First Secretary at his consulate.  He authorized Mantello to issue thousands of “citizen certificates” to Jewish refugees throughout Nazi occupied Europe.  These certificates stated that the holder was a recognized citizen of El Salvador who was then protected from deportation.  In 1944, Castellanos requested that Switzerland represent El Salvador’s interests in Nazi occupied Hungary.  Soon, Mantello was issuing thousands of Salvadoran citizenship papers to Hungarian Jews through the office of Swiss Consul Charles Lutz.  Castellanos was designated Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 2010.

[Kranzler, David. The Man Who Stopped the Trains to Auschwitz George Mantello, El Salvador, and Switzerland’s Finest Hour. (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2000), pp. xxii, xxv, 2, 28, 42, 206, 353, 308n.25.]


José Manuel del Castillo Alvarez, Mexican Ambassador to Portugal, 1940

José Manuel del Castillo Alvarez was the Mexican Ambassador to Portugal in 1940.  Ambassador Castillo issued hundreds of visas for refugees to escape Europe.  He did not formally ask for permission to issue these visas.  He was later questioned by the Mexican foreign ministry about these actions.  He claimed that the Mexican immigration policy was so vague that he did not fully understand it.  Castillo was recalled to Mexico temporarily to explain his actions.  He explained in correspondence that he thought it was the policy of Mexico to provide refuge for individuals in need.  A ship named the Quanza, leaving for Lisbon with Jewish refugees bound for Mexico, was not permitted to land in Mexico.  The Jews were eventually given asylum in the US by the intervention of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and sympathetic immigration officials.

[Salzman, Daniela Gleizer. México Frente a la Inmigración de Refugiados Judíos: 1934-1940. (Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historía, 2000).]


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

Giuseppe Castrucci replaced Consul General Zamboni at the consulate in Salonica, Greece.  Castrucci played a key role in saving 350 Salonica Jews by placing them on an Italian military train that took them out of Salonica into the Italian neutral zone.  To save Jews, he gave the broadest possible interpretation to the term “Italian subject.”  He issued 550 certificates of Italian nationality to Greek Jews who were clearly not of Italian origin.  Castrucci liberally issued these to Jews who were subject to deportation or were already in deportation camps.  Castrucci’s certificates enabled many Jews to be released from the transit camps and given over to Italian authority.  They were then taken to Athens for their protection.  “Consul Castrucci issued certificates of Italian nationality to Jewish women who were married to Greek husbands, and to their children who were described as minors, though they were often over 21 and sometimes over 30…and often certificates of Italian nationality were issued to Jews whose only claim to them was that the Gestapo was looking for them…The Nazis realized what the Consul was doing, but did not contest his signature and affixed their stamp to his certified list” (Poliakov & Sabille, pp. 156-157).  The German authorities in Salonika tried to stop Castrucci from issuing these naturalization papers.

[Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945. (New York: The Beechhurst Press, 1953), p. 375. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), p. 522. Carpi, 1990, p. 730. Poliakov & Sabille, 1955, pp. 156-157. Film: Righteous Enemy, 1982. Molho, M., & J. Nehama. The Destruction of Greek Jewry, 1941-1945. (Jerusalem, 1965). In Hebrew. Rochlitz, Joseph. “Excerpts from the Salonika Diary of Lucillo Merci (February-August 1943).” Yad Vashem Studies, 18 (1987), pp. 293, 312, 315, 319-322.  Duman, Marion and Judy Krausz (Eds.). Compiled, translated and annotated with an introduction by Irith Dublon-Kenbel. German Foreign Office Documents on the Holocaust in Greece (1837-1944).  (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2007).]


Edouard Chapuisat, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Representative in Southeastern Europe, 1943-?

Edouard Chapuisat was the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Representative in Southeastern Europe in 1943.  In the spring of 1943, Chaupuisat led a mission in southeastern Europe to meet with heads of state, church leaders, Red Cross representatives in Croatia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.  The purpose of this mission was to aid Balkan Jews in emigrating to Palestine.  The Red Cross representatives in these countries noted that the Jews were persecuted by national and local leaders in those countries.

[Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 1231.  Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 27, 42, 71-72, 88, 109, 180, 186, 202-203, 205, 217-218, 234]


Mr. Chauvet, Swiss Legation in Rome, 1943

Mr. Chauvet, of the Swiss legation in Rome, issued Swiss protective letters to Jews and certified that they were French citizens.  Eventually, Chauvet expanded his protection to falsely certify that all refugees were French.  Chauvet distributed false documents to hundreds of Jews.  He worked with the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem) and Father Marie-Benoit. 

[Waagenaar, Sam. The Pope’s Jews. (La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishers, 1974), pp. 394-395, 399.]


Feliks Chiczewski, Polish consul in Lipsk, Germany, 1938-39?

Feliks Chiczewski was the Polish consul in Lipsk, Germany.  He prevented Polish Jews from being expelled from Germany by allowing them to seek refuge in the Polish consulate building and garden.  At least half of the Jews in the town were given refuge during the time of the deportations.

[Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 1727.]


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

Rives Childs, the head of the US legation in Tangier, Algeria, made connections with the Spanish authorities in Madrid and in Morocco and helped saved more than 1,200 Jews.  He persuaded Spanish authorities to issue the Jewish refugees visas and access to Spanish safe houses until they could emigrate from Algeria.  Childs worked closely with Renée Reichmann and her rescue committee and Luis Orgaz, the Spanish High Commissioner for Tangier.  Orgaz helped obtain Spanish transit visas for Jewish refugees.

[Alexy, Trudy. The Mezuzah in the Madonna’s Foot, pp. 200-201. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993). Bianco, Anthony. The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York. (New York: Times Books, 1997). Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 1061-1062, 1092. Kranzler, David. The Man Who Stopped the Trains to Auschwitz George Mantello, El Salvador, and Switzerland’s Finest Hour. (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2000), p. 196. Kranzler, David. Thy Brother’s Blood: The Orthodox Jewish Response During the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah, 1987), pp. 250-254. Childs, Rives. Foreign Service Farewell, pp. 116-117.  Rozett, Robert. “Child Rescue in Budapest,” Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 2 (1987), pp. 49-59.]


Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States

Archbishop Amleto Cicognani was the Apostolic Delegate to the United States.  He forwarded a request from Rabbi Stephen Wise for an appeal for intervention to help Jews in Bucharest, Romania.  During World War II, he transmitted a number of requests to the Vatican to intervene on behalf of persecuted Jews in Nazi occupied territories.  He also worked with Nahum Goldman of the World Jewish Congress.  He showed personal initiative and great sympathy on behalf of Jews.

[Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 39, 63-64, 67, 93, 97, 137, 140-141, 144-145, 152, 157-158, 175-177, 190.  Tittmann, Harold H., Jr., Harold H. Tittman III (Ed.). Inside the Vatican of Pius XII: The Memoir of an American Diplomat During World War II. (New York: Image Books Doubleday, 2004), pp. 47-48, 63, 77, 104, 144, 149-153, 158.]


Monsignore-Archbishop Gaetano Cicognani, Papal Nuncio in Madrid, 1943

Monsignore-Archbishop Gaetano Cicognani, the Papal Nuncio in Madrid, had given orders to issue protective papers to any Jew in southern France “who somehow could prove his Spanish affiliation, even in the most embryonic manner.”  His efforts were unsuccessful due to the surrender of the Italian government on September 8, 1943.

[Waagenaar, Sam. The Pope’s Jews. (La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishers, 1974), p. 382. Vatican (Holy See). Actes et documents du Saint-Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. 12 vols. (1966-1981). Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), p. 66.]


Ernest Napier Cooper, Chief of the Aliens Department, British Home Office

Ernest Napier Cooper, Chief of the Aliens Department of the British Home Office, had a very liberal policy toward letting Jewish refugees into Great Britain.  Cooper also cooperated discretely on refugee matters with non-Nazi elements within the German embassy in London.  He worked directly with Baron Wolfgang zu Putlitz, who was in charge of the embassy’s consular department from June 1934 to May 1938. 

[London, L. Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British immigration policy, Jewish refugees and the Holocaust, pp. 37, 43-44, 199. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).]


Jean Costinescu, President of Romanian Red Cross

Jean Costinescu was the President of the Romanian Red Cross.  Costinescu worked with International Red Cross representatives Charles Kolb and Vladimir de Steiger in Romania.  Costinescu and the Romanian Red Cross worked on various rescue proposals to transport Jews from Romania to Ankara and Palestine.

[Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 210-211.]


Dr. Alec Cramer, International Committee for the Red Cross Delegate to Southern France

In April 1940, Dr. Alec Cramer, the ICRC representative in Southern France, asked ICRC headquarters in Geneva for permission for French authorities to inspect civilian camps in the Haute Savoir region of Southern France.  Nazi officials refused on the grounds that it did not recognize the mandate of the ICRC to do so.

[Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).]


Henry de la Cruz, Portuguese Diplomat in Spain


Count Blasco Lanza d'Ajeta, Head of the Occupied Territories Department, Chief of Cabinet of Italian Foreign Ministry

Count Blasco Lanza d'Ajeta, Head of the Occupied Territories Department and Chief of Cabinet of the Italian Foreign Ministry, composed a memorandum that underscored the obvious consequences of agreeing to the German demands of deporting thousands of Jews in the Italian occupied zone of Croatia.  In this memorandum, he recommended to the Italian Foreign Ministry that they reject the German demand.  D'Ajeta drafted a memorandum to Mussolini to influence him against authorizing the Italian cooperation in the deportation and murder of Jews in Croatia.  On two separate occasions, Mussolini was dissuaded from participating in the genocide of Jews. 

[Carpi, Daniel. "The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia." In Rescue Attempts During the Holocaust. Proceedings of the Second Yad Vashem International Historical Conference, edited by Y. Gutman & E. Zuroff. (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 473, 476, 486-487, 491. Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945. (New York: The Beechhurst Press, 1953), pp. 322-323, 368. Verax [Roberto Ducci]. “Italiani ed ebrei in Jugoslavia,” Politica Estera, I. (Rome, 1944), pp. 21-29. Carpi, 1990, p. 730. Carpi, Daniel. Between Mussolini and Hitler: The Jews and the Italian Authorities in France and Tunisia. (Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press, 1994), pp. 36, 41, 64, 86-87, 89, 106, 217, 225, 233, 260nn.48, 51, 241n.37, 284nn.11, 21, 314n.62. Herzer, 1989, pp. 209-210. Michaelis, 1978, pp. 314, 320. Poliakov & Sabille, 1955, pp. 57-59, 143, 174-175. Steinberg, 1990, pp. 1, 56-57, 70, 73, 168. Michaelis, Meir.  The Holocaust in Italy: Area of Inquiry IV: The Italian Occupied Territories.  In Berenbaum, Michael, and Abraham J. Peck (Eds.). The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined, pp. 455-461. (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998), p. 457.  Tittmann, Harold H., Jr., Harold H. Tittman III (Ed.). Inside the Vatican of Pius XII: The Memoir of an American Diplomat During World War II. (New York: Image Books Doubleday, 2004), pp. 70, 145.]


Archbishop George Damaskinos,* Metropolitan of Athens, Acting Head of State for Greek Government in Exile

After the Greek government went into exile, Archbishop George Damaskinos, Metropolitan of Athens, became temporary head of state.  During his tenure as Metropolitan of Athens, he encouraged members of the Greek Orthodox Church and clergymen to hide Jews throughout Greece.  He made numerous protests against the Nazi persecution of Jews.  He issued church encyclicals, hid Jewish children, and issued false Baptismal Certificates to Jews.  For his actions, he was declared Righteous Among the Nations in 1969.


Carl Ivan Danielsson,* Swedish Minister (Ambassador) in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Carl Ivan Danielsson was the Swedish Minister in Budapest in 1944-1945.  As head of the Swedish mission to Budapest, Danielsson was responsible for the rescue and protection of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews.  He was responsible for the overall mission and ultimately the success of the Swedish legation.  For his actions, he was awarded the Righteous Among the Nations medal by Israel in 1982.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 785, 881, 1074, 1084. Asaf, Uri. Christian support for Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary. In Braham, Randolph L. (Ed.) Studies on the Holocaust in Hungary, pp. 65-112. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 74. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 227-228, 231, 318-319, 357-359, 366-367, 387-388. Levine, Paul A. From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and the Holocaust: 1938-1944. (Uppsala, Sweden: 1998), pp. 254-277. Koblik, Steven. The Stones Cry Out: Sweden’s Response to the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1945. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1988), pp. 68, 71-72, 235, 238, 241-245, 248, 258, 270, 275. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 1439, 1589. Skoglund, Elizabeth R. A Quiet Courage: Per Anger, Wallenberg’s Co-Liberator of Hungarian Jews. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), pp. 17, 38, 46, 60-61, 74, 95, 117, 121, 124, 133, 156, 166, 171-172. Lévai, Jenö, translated by Frank Vajda. Raoul Wallenberg: His Remarkable Life, Heroic Battles and the Secret of his Mysterious Disappearance. (Melbourne, 1988, originally published in Hungarian in 1948).]


Dr. D’Cassio, Italian Commercial Attaché in Warsaw, 1940

The Italian Commercial Attaché in Warsaw, Dr. D’Cassio, issued 220 visas to Jewish refugees who were on an Af-Al-Pi transport.  Dr. Willi Perl, in his book, The Four-Front War, states: “The 220 who were already in Fiume had gained their entrance into Italy only by the happy coincidence that the Italian commercial attaché in Warsaw, a Dr. D’Cassio, had a beautiful Jewish secretary who influenced him to issue the transit visa without condition” (pp. 92-93).  The ship to transport them was delayed and Perl states, “In fact as day after day passed and no Socrates arrived, the Italians insisted that the 220, who were not visible in the streets but whose presence was, of course, known, be sent back to Poland.  This would mean not only tragedy for the refugees but also trouble for Dr. D’Cassio in Warsaw” (p. 95).

[Perl, William R. The Four-Front War: From the Holocaust to the Promised Land. (New York: Crown Publishers, 1978), pp. 92-95.]


Luis Martins de Souza Dantas,* Brazilian Ambassador to France, 1940-43

Luis Martins de Souza Dantas was the Brazilian Ambassador to France between 1922 and 1943.  Ambassador Dantas issued visas to hundreds of Jews in occupied France after the Nazi takeover in 1940.  In March 1943, the Nazi representatives broke into Dantas’ embassy in Vichy and arrested him.  He was deported to Germany and was incarcerated along with other diplomats.  This was for his actions in helping Jews.  Dantas was eventually freed in 1944, with the direct intervention of Portuguese Prime Minister Oliveira Salazar.  Dantas issued the visas against the strict order of the pro-fascist Brazilian government headed by Getulio Vargas, and at great risk to his diplomatic career.  The Brazilian government eventually reprimanded him for issuing these visas without authorization from Rio.  Several of the Jews arrived in Brazil and were detained by the Brazilian government, but were later released. Dantas was designated Righteous Among the Nations in 2003.

[Milgram, Avraham, translated by Naftali Greenwood.  “The Jews of Europe from the perspective of the Brazilian Foreign Service, 1933-1941.”  Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 9 (1995), 94-120.  Fry, Varian. Surrender on Demand. (New York: Random House, 1945), p. 128. Eck, Nathan. “The Rescue of Jews With the Aid of Passports and Citizenship Papers of Latin American States.” Yad Vashem Studies on the European Jewish Catastrophe and Resistance, 1 (1957), pp. 125-152.]


De Blonay (Swiss), Chief Delegate (Operations) of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

[Persson, 2009, pp. 194, 210]


Yves Debroise, French diplomat in Rome, Italy, 1943

Mr. Yves Debroise, of the French consulate in Rome, issued counterfeited French protective papers to assist French and Italian Jews in Rome, Italy, after the surrender of Italy on September 8, 1943. He worked with the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem) and Father Marie-Benoit. 

[Waagenaar, Sam. The Pope’s Jews. (La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishers, 1974), pp. 395.]


L. P. J. de Decker, Dutch Ambassador to the Baltic States, 1940

Ambassador L. P. J. de Decker resided in Riga, Latvia.  De Decker authorized honorary Dutch consul in Kovno, Lithuania Jan Zwartendijk to issue end visas to stranded Polish refugees in Lithuania.  The end visa was for the Dutch islands of Surinam and Curacao in the Caribbean.  This was a ruse to allow Jews to escape from Soviet occupied Lithuania, because an entry visa was not necessary to land in the Dutch possessions.  Thousands of Jews thus escaped the Nazi Holocaust.

[Sakamoto, Pamela R. Japanese Diplomats and Jewish Refugees: A World War II Dilemma. (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998). Zuroff, Efraim. “Attempts to obtain Shanghai permits in 1941: A case of rescue priority during the Holocaust.” Yad Vashem Studies, 13 (1979), 321-351.  Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 119.]


Henri François Deroover, Belgium, Consul in Bayonne, France, 1940

Consul Deroover issued 150 blank Belgian passports to French and Belgian Jews in Bayonne, France.  The visas were filled out by the Jewish refugees themselves, who used them to escape to neutral Portugal. 

[Rescued the family of Doreen Steg in Biarritz, France.]


De Valera, Ireland

De Valera instructed Thomas J. Kiernan, Ireland’s diplomatic envoy to the Vatican, to intervene on behalf of Jews both in Hungary and in Slovakia.  De Valera secretly supported the Allied powers during the war.  In addition, he supported the Irish Jewish community.

[Wyman, David S. (Ed.). The World Reacts to the Holocaust. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), p. 654.]


François de Vial, Diplomat at the French Embassy in Rome, 1943

François de Vial was a diplomat at the French embassy in Rome in 1943.  De Vial helped Father Benedetto and the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; DELASEM) in their rescue of Jews.  He did this without permission from Vichy. 

[Waagenaar, Sam. The Pope’s Jews. (La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishers, 1974), p. 400.]


René de Weck, Swiss Consul General in Bucharest, Romania, and Amsterdam, 1942-45

In spring 1933, de Weck was appointed Plenipotentiary Minister for Switzerland in Romania, Yugoslavia and Greece, stationed in Bucharest, Romania.  In November 1941, as a result of the Nazi persecutions of Jews in Romania, de Weck contacted the Red Cross and urged them to send a special representative to Bucharest to protect Jews who were being murdered.  As a result, the ICRC sent two representatives.  Working with ICRC representative Carl Kolb in the summer of 1943, de Weck managed to gather more than 2,000 Jewish orphans in Moldavia to prevent their deportation and from being forced into ghettoes.  De Weck also managed to protect Hungarian Jews who had sought refuge in Romania and who would otherwise have been murdered.  De Weck worked to prevent the Romanian government from harming Jews of Swiss nationality or of those countries whose interests were being represented by Switzerland in Romania.

[Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), pp. 349-350.  Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 1231, 1297-1298. Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 109, 198-200, 202, 206-207, 210, 212-213. Vago, Bela. “Political and Diplomatic Activities for the Rescue of the Jews of Northern Transylvania.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), p. 161. Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), p. 621.  Lavi, T. Rumanian Jewry in World War II: Fight for Survival. (Jerusalem, 1965). Hebrew.  Lavi, T. (Ed.). Rumania, Vol. 1.  In Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities. (Jerusalem, 1969). Hebrew.  Butnaru, I. C. The Silent Holocaust: Romania and its Jews.]


Señor Diaz, Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in Berlin, Germany, 1942-43?

Señor Diaz, Secretary of the Spanish embassy in Berlin, strongly advocated for a policy that would have the Spanish government repatriate all Spanish Jews in German occupied territories in Europe.

[Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945. (New York: The Beechhurst Press, 1953), pp. 377-378.]


Niels Christian Ditleff, Swedish Red Cross, Norwegian Representative to Sweden, Stationed in Stockholm, 1944-45, Minister in Warsaw, Poland, 1939

Niels Christian Ditleff was a diplomatic representative of the Norwegian government in exile in Stockholm, Sweden.  In late 1944, Ditleff persuaded the Swedish Foreign Office to attempt a rescue of Norwegian Jews and non-Jews held in Nazi-occupied territory.  See also Swedish Red Cross.

[Swedish Foreign Office, The Swedish Relief Expedition to Germany 1945: Prelude and Negotiations [Stockholm, 1956], White Book, 1956; Persson, 2009, pp. 38, 40-41, 49-50, 55-58, 67-69, 72, 74-75, 83, 225; Yahil, L. “Scandinavian Countries to the Rescue of Concentration Camp Prisoners.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 189, 191, 193, 198-219. Koblik, Steven. The Stones Cry Out: Sweden’s Response to the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1945. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1988), pp. 38, 76, 119, 122, 126, 164, 270, 293. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), p. 271.]


Countess Dobrazensky, Hungarian Red Cross

Countess Dobrazensky was a delegate for the Hungarian Red Cross.  She tried to intervene on behalf of Hungarian Jews deported to Galicia.

[Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 233-234.]

William E. Dodd, US Ambassador in Berlin, Germany

William E. Dodd was the US ambassador in Berlin, Germany.  Dodd was a strong and consistent anti-Nazi in the US embassy.  Like his colleague Consul George S. Messersmith, he warned Washington about the continuing appeasement of the Nazis by the French and British governments.  In addition, Dodd was openly critical of Nazi anti-Semitism.  He strenuously objected to the embassy’s attempts to establish close relations with Nazi party leaders.  Dodd was praised by American Jewish leaders for his efforts to denounce the German government and for advocating a strong US anti-Nazi policy.  Dodd’s appointment was abruptly terminated and he was recalled as a result of German government pressure against him.  After his return to the US, Dodd lectured against Nazi aggression. 

[Shafir, Shlomo. “American Diplomats in Berlin (1933-1939) and their Attitude to the Nazi Persecution of the Jews.” Yad Vashem Studies, 9 (1973), pp. 81-93, 103.]


Doefini, Italian Consulate in Salonika, Greece, 1943

Doefini helped save Jews at the Italian consulate in Salonika, Greece.  He worked under Consul Generals Zamboni and Castrucci. 

[Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 614. Carpi, Daniel (Ed.). Italian Diplomatic Documents on the History of the Holocaust in Greece (1941-1943). (Tel Aviv: Diaspora Research Institute, 1999).  Carpi, Daniel. "Notes on the History of the Jews in Greece during the Holocaust Period: The Attitude of the Italians (1941-1943)." In Festschrift in Honor of Dr. George S. Wise, H. Ben-Shahar et al., Eds., pp. 25-62. (Tel Aviv, 1981).  Duman, Marion and Judy Krausz (Eds.). Compiled, translated and annotated with an introduction by Irith Dublon-Kenbel. German Foreign Office Documents on the Holocaust in Greece (1837-1944).  (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2007).]


Elenore DuBois (Swiss), Toulouse, France

Wife of Maurice DuBois.  (Gutman)


Maurice DuBois* (Swiss), Toulouse, France

(Gutman)


Ambassador Roberto Ducci (Verax), Italy, Head of the Croatian Department of the Italian Foreign Ministry

Ambassador Roberto Ducci, Head of the Croatian Department of the Italian Foreign Ministry, vehemently opposed the deportations of Croatian and Italian Jews during the Italian occupation of Croatia.  He staunchly worked to prevent the deportations as head of the Croatian Department of the Italian Foreign Ministry.  He used the pen name “Verax” for this article.  Ducci published an article in the Italian foreign policy journal Politica Estera about the Italian rescue efforts against the German directives to deport Yugoslavian Jews. 

[Carpi, Daniel. "The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia." In Rescue Attempts During the Holocaust. Proceedings of the Second Yad Vashem International Historical Conference, edited by Y. Gutman & E. Zuroff. (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 446, 466, 474-476, 483-484. Verax [Roberto Ducci]. “Italiani ed ebrei in Jugoslavia,” Politica Estera, I. (Rome, 1944), pp. 21-29. Caracciolo, 1986, pp. 57-66.  Steinberg, 1990, pp. 93, 168.]


Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz,* Trade Attaché to the German Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1943

Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz was a member of the Nazi Party and was sent as a Trade Attaché to the German Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark.  When Duckwitz learned that the Nazi occupying government was planning to deport Danish Jews, he alerted the Danish government and Jewish community leaders.  In addition, he made a clandestine trip to Stockholm to meet with the Prime Minster of Sweden to arrange for safe haven for the Jews.  For these actions, he could have been killed.  The Danish underground in turn implemented the rescue of more than 7,000 Danish Jews.  As a result, 99% of Danish Jews were hidden and smuggled into neutral Sweden, where they survived the war.  After the war, Duckwitz became the German Ambassador to Denmark.  Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz was designated Righteous Among the Nations in 1971. 

[Duckwitz, Georg Ferdinand. Die geplannte Aktion gegen die dänischen Juden und ihre Verhinderung. (Copenhagen: Rigsarkivet, Duckwitz Archives, 1957; and Jerusalem: Yad Vashem Archives File #027/13).  Duckwitz, Georg Ferdinand. Die Aktion gegen die dänischen Juden im Herbst 1943—Plan und Durchführing. (Copenhagen: Rigsarkivet, Duckwitz Archives, 1964). Dose, Johannes. Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz in Dänemark: 1943-1945, 2nd ed. (Bonn: Auswärtiges Amt, 1992), Referat 012, p. 16.  Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 364, 409, 1282, 1438. Yahil, Leni. The Rescue of Danish Jewry: Test of a Democracy. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1969), pp. 127, 129, 148-151, 161-164, 173, 239, 269, 329, 417. Kirchhoff, Hans. “SS-Gruppenführer Werner Best and the action against the Danish Jews – October 1943.” Yad Vashem Studies, 24 (1994), 195-222.]


Cevdet Dülger, Turkey, Consul General in Paris, 1939-1942

[Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993), pp. 66, 91, 140, 331.]


Georges Dunand, International Red Cross, stationed in Slovakia

Georges Dunand was the International Red Cross representative stationed in Slovakia in 1944-1945.  He was sent to Slovakia in October 1944 to help the remaining Jewish survivors.  Many of the Jewish survivors were in hiding in Bratislava.  There, he was helped by two Swiss consular officials, Max Grässli, the Consul General, and Hans Keller, Vice Consul.  Consul General Grässli and his wife hid Jews in their home.  When the Grässli’s left, Dunand moved into their apartment and continued to hide Jews there.  Dunand also worked with Zionist youth leader Jurag Revesz.  In addition, Dunand distributed money to Jewish refugee organizations. Dunand was one of the few Red Cross representatives to publish his memoirs.  It was called Ne perdez pas leur trace! [Don’t lose track of them], (Geneva, 1950). 
 
[Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 448.  Dunand, Georges.  Ne perdez pas leur trace.  Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 184, 187-197, 250. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 241, 370, 1232. Rothkirchen, Livia. “Vatican Policy and the ‘Jewish Problem’ in ‘Independent’ Slovakia (1939-1945).” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 51. Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945. (New York: The Beechhurst Press, 1953), pp. 394-395, 405, 445. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), pp. 499, 545-546, 705.  AG, G59/2, letter from Dunand of 18 December 1944.]


Niels Eric Ekblad, Swedish Consul in Denmark, 1943

Consul Niels Eric Ekblad was sent by the Swedish government to report on the action of the Germans in the impending deportation of Danish Jews in October 1943.  Ekblad accompanied German diplomat Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz to a clandestine meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson.  Ekblad relayed advance warning from Duckwitz to the Swedish government.  At the Swedish embassy in Copenhagen, Ekblad issued many passports to Danish citizens.   

[Werner, Emmy E. A Conspiracy of Decency: The Rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2002), pp. 33-36, 39, 41. Ekblad, Niels Eric. Aufzeichnung über gewisse Ereignisse im Zusammenhang mit der deutschen Aktion gegen die dänishen Juden um den 1 Oktober 1943. (Hamburg, January 22, 1958; Jerusalem: Yad Vashem Archives, File #027/13). Yahil, Leni. The Rescue of Danish Jewry: Test of a Democracy. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1969).]


Howard Elting, Consul, US Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, 1944

US Consul Howard Elting, stationed at the US embassy in Bern, Switzerland, was one of the first diplomats in Europe to recognize the importance of the Auschwitz Report (also known as the Auschwitz Protocols).  This document was written by two escapees from Auschwitz.  Elting immediately understood the enormity of the events described in this document.  The Protocols detailed the systematic murder of millions of Jews in Auschwitz.  Elting forwarded this document, with his endorsement of its authenticity, to the US State Department in Washington, DC, and to Jewish community leaders in Europe.  The US Secretary of State and other State Department officials did not release the document.

[Friedman, Saul S. No Haven for the Oppressed. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1973), pp. 130-131, 136, 140, 142. Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 43-44. Koblik, Steven. The Stones Cry Out: Sweden’s Response to the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1945. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1988), pp. 144, 196-197. Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 7-9, 11. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 1275.]


Gösta Engzell, Head of Legal Division of the Swedish Foreign Office, Stockholm, Sweden, World War II

Gösta Engzell headed the Legal Division of the Swedish Foreign Office throughout the war.  He was the individual most responsible for the positive switch in the Swedish government’s official policy and response to the murder of European Jews.  He convinced the Swedish government to help Jews in Nazi controlled territories.  He empowered diplomats in Norway, Denmark and later in Budapest.  He was responsible for empowering Swedish diplomats Carl Ivan Danielsson and Per Anger to issue Swedish protective papers to Budapest Jews.  By the end of the war, Swedish action on behalf of Jews in Europe, almost always initiated or supported by Engzell and his staff, contributed to the rescue and relief of 30,000-40,000 Jews.

[Levine, P.A., p. 212, in Cesarani, D., & Levine, P.A., 2002. Levine, Paul A. From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and the Holocaust: 1938-1944. (Uppsala, Sweden: 1998), pp. 115-116, 126, 132, 134, 138, 154-155, 159-162, 169, 171, 174, 176-177, 181-185, 213, 216, 223, 226, 232-234, 241-243, 249-252, 259-276. Yahil, L. “Scandinavian Countries to the Rescue of Concentration Camp Prisoners.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 216-217. Koblik, Steven. The Stones Cry Out: Sweden’s Response to the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1945. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1988), pp. 170, 176, 203, 206-207, 217, 238, 248-251, 290-293. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 267-268, 273-275, 279-280, 288.  Swedish Foreign Office, The Swedish Relief Expedition to Germany 1945: Prelude and Negotiations [Stockholm, 1956], White Book, 1956; Swedish Foreign Office Archives [UDA], Stockhom; Persson, 2009, pp. 29, 55, 63, 65, 83, 142-143, 159-160, 186, 195; Favez, 1995, pp. 260-272; Hadenius, 2007; Hewins, 1950; Marton, 1996; Persson, 2009, pp. 29, 55, 63, 65, 83, 142-143, 159-160, 186, 195; Yahil, 1967, pp. 181-220]


Kudret Erbey, Turkey, Consul General in Hamburg, 1938-1942

[Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993).]


Behiç Erkin, Turkey, Ambassador to Vichy, 1940-1943

[Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993), pp. 78, 89, 93-94, 331-332.]


Galip Evren, Turkey, Consul General in Hamburg, 1942-1944

[Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993).]


Solomon Ezrati**, Spanish Consul in Salonika, Greece, 1941-43

Solomon Ezrati served as a Vice-Consul at the Spanish consulate in Salonika.  He had held the position for 28 years.  Ezrati worked closely with Spanish Consul General Romero Radigales in helping to save Spanish Jews in Salonika.  Because Solomon Ezrati was Jewish, he was arrested along with other Spanish nationals and deported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.  He survived the war. 

[Avni, Haim. “Spanish Nationals in Greece and their Fate during the Holocaust.” Yad Vashem Studies, 8 (1970), pp. 38, 52-54, 65. Avni, Haim. Spain, the Jews and Franco. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1982).]


Isidro Fabela, Mexican Ambassador to the League of Nations

Isidro Fabela was the Mexican Ambassador to the League of Nations.  In 1938, he wrote Mexico’s official protest of Germany’s annexation of Austria.  This was the only written protest worldwide.  After the war, he has been honored in Austria for his protest of the annexation.  Before the war, Fabela served as the Foreign Minister of Mexico.

[Eck, Nathan. “The Rescue of Jews With the Aid of Passports and Citizenship Papers of Latin American States.” Yad Vashem Studies on the European Jewish Catastrophe and Resistance, 1 (1957), pp. 125-152.]


Ildefonso Falcão, Brazilian Consul in Cologne, Germany, 1933-?

Ildefonso Falcão was the Brazilian Consul in Cologne, Germany, 1933-?  After the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Falcão sent numerous reports on the persecution of Jews. Falcão acted on his own authority in liberally granting visas to German Jews who wished to immigrate to Brazil.  He believed that the German Jews could be a productive asset to Brazil.  Despite the anti-Semitic policies written by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Falcão continued to help Jewish refugees immigrate to Brazil.

[Milgram, Avraham, translated by Naftali Greenwood.  “The Jews of Europe from the perspective of the Brazilian Foreign Service, 1933-1941.”  Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 9 (1995), 94-120.]


V. C. Farrell, Head of the British Passport Control Office in Geneva

V. C. Farrell was the Head of Passport Control at the British legation in Geneva, Switzerland.  He also served as Head of British Intelligence in Switzerland.  In June 1942, Farrell passed information about the horrific conditions of Jews in Poland to Yishuv representative in Switzerland Chaim Pozner.  Pozner, in turn, was able to confirm the information and pass additional information along.  Farrell disseminated this information to the Allies and to Benjamin Segalowitz, Chief of Information for the Union of Jewish Communities in Switzerland.  Segalowitz then passed the information to Gerhardt Riegner.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 698, 1122.]


Gerhart Feine, Director of the Jewish Department of the German Plenipotentiary in Budapest, 1944-45

Consul Gerhart Feine was Director of the Jewish Department of the German Plenipotentiary in Budapest in 1944-1945.  He informed Carl Lutz, Raoul Wallenberg and other members of the neutral legations of the plans of Hitler’s Foreign Minister Veesenmayer and SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann to deport and murder the Jews of Budapest.  Without Feine’s help, the rescue of Jews would have been far more difficult and dangerous.  Feine betrayed the confidence of Veesenmayer and Eichmann.  He was never discovered for informing on his superiors.  Feine also rescued several Jewish families in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, prior to his assignment in Budapest.  Feine was killed after the war while attempting to rescue people from a burning building.

[Tschuy, Theo. Dangerous Diplomacy. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000). Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 388, 507. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), p. 283.]


Dr. Harald Feller,* Swiss Minister in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Dr. Harald Feller replaced Maximilian Jaeger as head of the Swiss legation in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944.  From the beginning of his appointment, Dr. Feller was tireless in his efforts to support Consul Charles Lutz and the rescue of Jews under Swiss protection.  Feller worked closely with the other neutral legations in constantly pressuring the Horthy and Sztójay puppet governments to end the persecution and deportations of Jews.  He signed a joint protest of the treatment of Jews along with his fellow diplomatic representatives.  Feller protected members of the Swedish legation, who were targeted by the Arrow Cross, by giving them false Swiss passports and providing shelter.  Toward the end of the war, Feller hid dozens of Jews in the basement of his consular residence in Budapest.  In February 1945, the Soviets arrested Feller and sent him to Moscow, along with other Swiss nationals.  He was returned to Switzerland in February 1946.  Feller received his Righteous Among the Nations award in 1999. He passed away in 2002 in Bern, Switzerland.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), p. 881. Tschuy, Theo. Dangerous Diplomacy. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000). Asaf, Uri. Christian support for Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary. In Braham, Randolph L. (Ed.) Studies on the Holocaust in Hungary, pp. 65-112. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 78. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 357-359, 366-368, 383-384, 387-388, 413-414, 416.]


Pinto Ferreira, Portuguese Consul General in Vichy/Marseilles, France, 1943?

Pinto Ferreira, the Portuguese Consul General in Vichy stationed in Marseilles, protected Jews who were registered with the consulate.  Ferreira argued strongly for the protection of these Jews.  Portuguese dictator Salazar later approved the repatriation of the Portuguese Jews.

[Cable from Pinto Ferreira in Vichy to Salazar, March 18, 1943, AHD, 2o P. A. 50, M. 40.  Cable from Salazar, March 27, 1943, AHD, 2o. P. A. 50, M. 40.  Cited in Milgram, Avraham. “The Bounds of Neutrality: Portugal and the Repatriation of its Jewish Nationals.” Yad Vashem Studies, 31 (2003), pp. 201-244.]


Suzanne Ferrière, Delegate for the International Committee for the Red Cross

Suzanne Ferrière was a delegate for the International Committee for the Red Cross throughout Europe during the war.  She was also vice chair of the International Emigrant’s Aid Agency, which was part of the ICRC.

Ferrière traveled throughout Europe making inspections and writing detailed reports for the Red Cross regarding the conditions of Jews in Nazi-occupied territories.

Ferrière took an active interest in changing the rules and conventions regarding the policy of the Red Cross in aiding Jews.  Ferrière challenged the assumption that Jews could not be helped because they were political refugees and not civilian internees.  She was in favor of liberalizing the rules.  As such, she presented demarches in various locations throughout Europe in order to protect Jewish detainees under Nazi control.

[Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 35, 60-61, 114.]


Mssr. Figuière, Honorary Consul for Panama in Marseilles, 1940-41

The Panamanian Honorary Consul in Marseilles was a French shipping agent by the name of Figuière.  He provided Panamanian visa stamps to refugees as a means of escaping Vichy France.  Hans and Lisa Fittko, refugees, obtained Panamanian visas from the honorary consul.  They stated in Lisa Fittko’s autobiography that he “sells” these visas for the price of a salami.  It was clear that no one was going to Panama on these visas.

[Fry, Varian. Surrender on Demand. (New York: Random House, 1945), pp. 82-83.  Fittko, Lisa, translated by David Koblick. Escape through the Pyrénées. (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1991), pp. 165-166.]


Radu Flondor, Romanian Consul in Vienna, Austria

Flondor issued passports to Jews of Romanian origin in Vienna, which helped them avoid deportation to the murder camps.


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

Frank Foley was a Vice Consul in charge of visas in the British embassy in Berlin from 1929 to 1939.  He also worked as an MI6 intelligence agent.  Jewish officials estimate that he issued ten thousand visas to Jewish refugees between 1933 and 1939.  Ironically, these actions were a time when the British government was anxious to limit immigration, particularly to Palestine.  Despite British policy of giving few visas to Jews, it was known that Foley did everything he could to help. Frank Foley was designated by the State of Israel as Righteous Among the Nations in 1999. 

[Gutman, 2007, pp. 169-170.  Smith, Michael. Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews. (London: Hodder & Stroughten, 1999).]


Consul Forssius, Swedish Consul, Paris, France


Nicholas Franco, Spanish Ambassador to Portugal, 1943-1944?

Nicholas Franco (brother to Spanish head of state Francisco Franco) tried to gain thee release of Spanish Jews who had fled to Athens in the summer of 1943.  These Jewish Sephardim were locked up in the Haidari prison in Athens.  The Nazis responded to the request by stating that these Jews had “already been sent east.”

[Friedman, S. S. A History of the Holocaust. (Portland, OR: Vallentine Mitchell, 2004), p. 269.]


Jean-Edouard Friedrich,* International Red Cross in Berlin

Jean-Edouard Friedrich (1912-1999) was a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Berlin. The authority of this delegation, which was established in 1940, extended over all the territories of the Third Reich, including the General Government, as well as the occupied territories, notably the Netherlands, Belgium and France.  Friedrich helped a number of Jews enter Switzerland. He obtained papers for a young couple and accompanied them as far as the Swiss border, a story recounted by Lotte Strauss (1997). In Stuttgart, where he was posted, Friedrich escorted a young woman who was to be smuggled into Switzerland. They were spotted by the German police, whereupon Jean-Edouard Friedrich drew their attention and was caught, which allowed the refugees to escape and reach safety.  Friedrich was awarded Righteous Among the Nations status in 1999.


Ernest Frischer, Czechoslovakia

Ernest Frischer, a former ranking official of the Czechoslovakian government, supplied information regarding the murder of Jews in eastern Europe.

[Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ:(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), p. 171.]


Dr. Carlos Almeida Afonseca de Sampayo Garrido, Ambassador Plenipotentiary for Portugal in Budapest, 1944

Dr. Garrido helped large numbers of Hungarian Jews who came to the Portuguese diplomatic mission in 1944 seeking Portuguese protection.  Along with Branquinho, his successor, he rented houses and apartments to shelter and protect refugees from deportation and murder.  He was instrumental in establishing the policy for the protection of Portuguese Jews in Hungary.  In May 1944, he was reposted to Switzerland and on several occasions intervened on behalf of Jews from his post in Switzerland.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 795, 847, 887, 889, 1093-1095. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Spared Lives: The Actions of Three Portuguese Diplomats in World War II. (Portugal: Diplomatic Institute, 2000). Milgram, Avraham. “Portugal, the Consuls, and the Jewish Refugees, 1938-1941.” Yad Vashem Studies, 27 (1999), pp. 123-155.]


Eduardo Gasset, Spanish Consul General in Athens, Greece, 1942-43

The Spanish Consul General in Athens, Eduardo Gasset, helped to protect Spanish Jews from deportation in 1942-43.  He also protested the antisemitic laws being enforced by the Nazis.  In addition, he petitioned Madrid for permission to extend help to Spanish Jews in Athens and Salonika.

[Avni, Haim. “Spanish Nationals in Greece and their Fate during the Holocaust.” Yad Vashem Studies, 8 (1970), pp. 38-41.]


Dr. Raymond Herman Geist, American Consul General and First Secretary, US Embassy in Berlin, 1929-39

Between 1929 and 1939, Dr. Raymond Herman Geist was the American Consul General in Berlin.  Geist sent a number of reports to the State Department about the increasing persecution of Jews between 1933 and 1939.  In December 1938, Geist warned Assistant Secretary of State Messersmith that the Jews of Germany were being condemned to death, and urged measures to rescue them.  In May 1939, Geist sent another warning to Washington stating that if resettlement opportunities did not open up soon, the Jews of Germany would be doomed.  In a letter to his former supervisor in Washington, Geist wrote:  “The Jews in Germany are being condemned to death and their sentence will be slowly carried out; but probably too fast for the world to save them…After we have saved these refugees, and the Catholics and Protestants have not become new victims of the wrath here, we could break off relations and prepare to join in a war against them [the Germans].  We shall have to do so sooner or later; as France and England will be steadily pushed to the wall and eventually to save ourselves we shall have to save them.  The European situation was lost to the democracies at Munich and the final situation is slowly being prepared.  The age lying before us will witness great struggles and the outcome when it comes will determine the fate of civilization for a century or more.”  During the period of 1938-39, he helped many Jews and anti-Nazis to emigrate from Germany.  He personally intervened on behalf of these refugees with the Nazi high officials.  He did this well beyond his official duties as Consul General.  Further, he helped Jews and others who were under imminent threat of deportation to the concentration camps leave Germany.  Geist opposed the transfer of German quotas to US consulates outside of Nazi Germany.  He did this because he felt German Jews were in much more danger than Jews in other parts of Europe at the time.  Geist also issued letters to German refugees indicating that they appeared to be eligible for visas, and that their quota number would come up soon.  Often, these letters were sufficient to have people released from Nazi concentration camps.  The letters were also used to help refugees gain entry to neighboring countries.  Geist was encouraged not to follow this practice.

[Breitman, Richard and Alan M. Kraut, American Refugee Policy and European Jews. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), p. 40, 43, 45-46, 54-55, 64-69, 258 n. 58, 265 n. 72.  Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), p. 10. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), p. 724. Shafir, Shlomo. “American Diplomats in Berlin (1933-1939) and their Attitude to the Nazi Persecution of the Jews.” Yad Vashem Studies, 9 (1973), pp. 98, 102-103.  Rublee, George. “The Reminiscences of George Rublee.” Columbia University Oral History Collection.  Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24.  Geist to Secretary of State, 5 March 1934, 150.626J/74, RG 59, NA-WNRC, as cited in Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24. Geist to Secretary of State, 10 September 1934, 150.062 PD/705, RG 59, NA-WNRC, as cited in Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24.  Data cited by Raymond Geist, then quota control officer in Berlin and quoted in “Troubleshooter in Berlin,” New York Times, 23 July 1939, as cited in Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24.]


Dr. Gyorgy Gergely, Red Cross Director, Budapest, Hungary, 1939-1945

Dr. Gyorgy Gergely was active in saving Jews from Nazi and Arrow Cross persecutions in Budapest, 1944-45.  He was one of the main assistants to Friedrich Born and Hans Weyermann.  Gergely helped maintain the Red Cross protected houses, supplied food and medical aid to Jewish refugees, distributed protective papers, and maintained a vigilance in guarding the Red Cross buildings.

[Kramer, T. D. From Emancipation to Catastrophe: The Rise and Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry. (New York: University Press of America), pp. 244-286. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948). Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981).]


Pellegrino Ghigi, Italian Minister Plenipotentiary in Athens, Greece, 1943

Pellegrino Ghigi protected Jews in the Italian zone and rescued as many as possible from the German occupied areas such as Salonica.  While Ghigi was Minister Plenipotentiary in Athens, no actions were taken against Jews in the Italian occupied zone by Italian authorities.  In protecting Jews, he worked closely with General Carlo Geloso, Commander of the 11th Italian Army.  He gave Guelfo Zamboni, the Italian Consul General in Salonica, and his successor Giuseppe Castrucci, his full support in issuing certificates of Italian citizenship. 

[Duman, Marion and Judy Krausz (Eds.). Compiled, translated and annotated with an introduction by Irith Dublon-Kenbel. German Foreign Office Documents on the Holocaust in Greece (1837-1944).  (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2007).  Michaelis, 1978, pp. 312-313. Poliakov & Sabille, 1955, p. 159. Steinberg, 1990, p. 97. Molho, M., & J. Nehama. The Destruction of Greek Jewry, 1941-1945. (Jerusalem, 1965). In Hebrew. Rochlitz, Joseph. “Excerpts from the Salonika Diary of Lucillo Merci (February-August 1943).” Yad Vashem Studies, 18 (1987), pp. 293-323.  Film: Righteous Enemy, 1982.]


Prentiss Gilbert, Chargé d’Affaires, US Embassy, Berlin, Germany, 193?

Prentiss Gilbert was the Chargé d’Affaires at the US embassy in Berlin, Germany, 193?.  After the recall of the US Ambassador Wilson in 1938, Prentiss Gilbert headed the embassy.  Gilbert strongly criticized the Nazi party and the persecution of Jews in Germany.  He and Raymond H. Geist worked closely with US embassy official George Rublee and his assistant, Robert Pell, in their dealings with Nazi authorities.

[Shafir, Shlomo. “American Diplomats in Berlin (1933-1939) and their Attitude to the Nazi Persecution of the Jews.” Yad Vashem Studies, 9 (1973), pp. 98-99]


Consul Marc Giron, Attaché, Swedish Legation, Berlin, Germany

[Persson, 2009, pp.84, 101]


Archbishop William Godfrey, Apostolic Delegate in London

Archbishop William Godfrey, the Apostolic Delegate in London, transmitted requests for the Vatican to intervene on behalf of persecuted Jews in Nazi occupied Europe.  Godfrey also received and transmitted information about Nazi persecutions.

 [Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), pp. 56, 73, 92-93, 130-131, 139-140, 143, 158, 162, 175-177, 263-264.]


Herbert S. Goold, US Consul General in Casablanca, Morocco, 1941

Herbert S. Goold was the US Consul General in Casablanca, Morocco, stationed there in early 1941.  Goold was concerned about refugees being held in local French concentration camps.  He periodically visited the camps and pressed officials to improve conditions in the camp.  He issued visas to individuals in the camps who were then released.  As a result of Goold’s work, there was a large group of refugees who needed processing.  Consular officials in the Casablanca office spent many of their free, off-duty hours processing visa applications.

[Wyman, David S. Paper Walls: America and the Refugee Crisis, 1939-1941. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985), pp. 166-167.]


Haimoff Gozes, Honorary Argentine Consul in Bulgaria, 1943?

Haimoff Gozes was an honorary member of the Argentine consulate in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Gozes participated in helping to liberate Jews from forced labor and helping Jews emigrate.

[Feierstein, Daniel and Miguel Galante. “Argentina and the Holocaust: The conceptions and policies of Argentine diplomacy, 1933-1945.” Yad Vashem Studies, 27 (1999), 194.]


Max Grässli, Consul General for Switzerland in Bratislava, 1942-1944

Max Grässli was the Swiss Consul General in Bratislava in 1942-1944.  In 1942, Grässli helped Jewish refugees and managed to save numerous lives “invoking Swiss economic interests, in the widest sense of the term” (Favez, 1999, pp. 196-197).  In October 1944, the Swiss Federal Council gave Grässli the job of informing the Slovak government that there would be negative repercussions for their mistreatment of Jews.  Grässli demanded that deportations should be suspended and that Red Cross representatives should be allowed to visit the camps.  He worked closely with ICRC representative Georges Dunand.  They were both engaged in underground activities and hiding Jews in their residences.  Grässli left Bratislava in December 1944.

[Favez, Jean-Claude.  Edited and translated by John and Beryl Fletcher. The Red Cross and the Holocaust. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 196-197.]


El Conde de la Granja, President of the Spanish Red Cross in Madrid, 1943?

El Conde de la Granja was President of the Spanish Red Cross in Madrid.  The Spanish Red Cross was under government control.  It gave permission for Jewish relief agencies to send parcels to Jewish refugees.  Normally, these parcels could not be sent to Jewish refugees because they were not considered officially as prisoners of war.  In addition, Granja allowed these relief packages to be sent without shipping charges. 

[Kranzler, David. Thy Brother’s Blood: The Orthodox Jewish Response During the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah, 1987), pp. 249-251.]


Giacomo Guariglia, Italian Ambassador to Paris and the Vatican, 1942-1944?, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1944-45?

Giacomo Guariglia was the Italian Ambassador to Paris in 1942.  His protection of Jews was so open and blatant that the German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop complained personally to Mussolini.  In November 1942, Guariglia, then the Italian Ambassador to the Vatican, was asked by the Vatican Secretary of State to intervene with the Italian Foreign Minister to prevent the extradition of Jews.  Later, Guariglia was promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

[Leboucher, Fernande. Translated by J. F. Bernard. Incredible Mission. (Garden city, NY: Doubleday, 1969), pp. 105-106. Carpi, Daniel. "The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia." In Rescue Attempts During the Holocaust. Proceedings of the Second Yad Vashem International Historical Conference, edited by Y. Gutman & E. Zuroff. (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 490-491, 499.]


Christian Günther, Swedish Foreign Minister

In the autumn of 1943, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Christian Guenther negotiated for the release of Danish and Norwegian prisoners held in German camps.  This eventually led to the release of thousands of prisoners to the Swedish Red Cross under the supervision of Folke Bernadotte in March and April 1945. 

[Swedish Foreign Office, The Swedish Relief Expedition to Germany 1945: Prelude and Negotiations [Stockholm, 1956], White Book, 1956; Persson, 2009, pp. 64, 66-68, 72, 75-76, 82, 97, 144-14, 160-161, 178, 202, 204, 222-223, 225-226, 242, 251-252, 255; Friedman, Philip. Their Brothers’ Keepers: The Christian Heroes and Heroines Who Helped the Oppressed Escape the Nazi Terror. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1978), pp. 171-172. Levine, Paul A. From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and the Holocaust: 1938-1944. (Uppsala, Sweden: 1998), pp. 115, 145, 163, 167, 181, 185, 217, 220, 222, 224, 226, 234-241, 249. Yahil, L. “Scandinavian Countries to the Rescue of Concentration Camp Prisoners.” Yad Vashem Studies, 6 (1967), pp. 196, 201-202.]


José Gustavo Guerrero, Ambassador of El Salvador to Europe?, 1943-45?

José Gustavo Guerrero, along with Ambassador Castellanos, issued visas through George Mandel Mantello to Jewish refugees in central Europe.  He was formerly President of El Salvador.  Guerrero was later President of the High Court of The Hague. 

[Kranzler, David. Thy Brother’s Blood: The Orthodox Jewish Response During the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah, 1987), pp. 205-206. Kranzler, David. The Man Who Stopped the Trains to Auschwitz George Mantello, El Salvador, and Switzerland’s Finest Hour. (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2000), pp. xxii, xxv, 28, 247, 253.]


Sally Guggenheim, Swiss diplomat representing German Jews, 1936-1937

Sally Guggenheim was the honorary Swiss Consul representing Swiss interests in Yugoslavia.  In 1937, he intervened directly with Pope Pius XI on behalf of German Jews, encouraging the Pope to write a papal encyclical condemning the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws and the persecution of Jews.  The encyclical was entitled “Mit Brenninger Sorge” [With Burning Concern].  Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical as a strong condemnation against the persecution of Jews.  Pope Pius XI died in 1939 before further measures could be enacted to protect Jews. 

[See article on Sally Guggenheim. Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980).]


Gastone Guidotti, Secretary at the Italian Legation in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1936-1940

Gastone Guidotti was posted as Secretary at the Italian legation in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, between 1936 and 1940.  While acting as First Secretary, he issued Italian passports to Jewish refugees.  He did this after the Italian foreign ministry had turned down the passport applicants.  These acts of disobedience were never discovered by the Italian authorities. 

[Oral history interview, Barbarina Guidotti, 2000.]


Gabriel Guizol and Roland Guizol, Portuguese Vice Consuls in Cannes, France, 1941

Gabriel and Roland Guizol (brothers), of the Portuguese consulate in Cannes, France, issued visas to a number of Jews who entered Portugal.  The Guizol brothers did this without authorization from the Foreign Ministry or the Portuguese police.

[Milgram, Avraham. “Portugal, the Consuls, and the Jewish Refugees, 1938-1941.” Yad Vashem Studies, 27 (1999), pp. 154.  Letter of Elias Baruel, Vice-President of the Section of Assistance to Refugees of the Jewish Community in Lisbon to the director of the PVDE, Lisbon, May 12, 1942, Archive of the Jewish Community of Lisbon, CAHJP, Jerusalem, Po/Li/A-II/12 a, 5. (Cited in Milgram, 1999).  Milgram, Avraham. “The bounds of neutrality: Portugal and the repatriation of its Jewish nations.” Yad Vashem Studies, 31 (2003), pp. 201-244.]


Gyula Gulden, Portuguese Honorary Consul General, Budapest, Hungary, 1944-45

Acting/Honorary Consul General Gyula Gulden, a Hungarian civilian, was the managing director of the Herend Porcelain Factory in Budapest.  He handled, processed and distributed safe-conduct papers signed by the Portuguese Chargé d’Affaires in Budapest. He organized rescue operations with Dr. Ferenc Bartha.  In addition, he worked to protect the four Portuguese protected houses in Budapest.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), p. 1094. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Spared Lives: The Actions of Three Portuguese Diplomats in World War II. (Portugal: Diplomatic Institute, 2000). Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 406-410.]


Gerhard Gumpert, German Legation Secretary, Rome, Italy

[Katz, 1969; Zimmerman, 2005, p. 233]


Franklin Mott Gunther, U.S. Ambassador in Bucharest, Romania, 1941

Franklin Mott Gunther was the US Ambassador stationed in Bucharest, Romania, in 1941.  Gunther sent detailed dispatches and reports to the State Department outlining the atrocities committed by the fascist Iron Guard party in January 1941.  Gunther also reported on the deportation of Romanian Jews to the eastern territories by the Germans.  In addition, he contacted President Roosevelt in a private letter where he provided advice for the possible resettlement of Jews in Africa.  He further stated the Romanian officials were willing to negotiate with countries regarding receiving Romanian Jews.  Gunther’s reports and letter were criticized by U.S. State Department officials.  The U.S. State Department did not act in any way on Gunther’s recommendations.

[Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ:(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), pp. 48, 179, 182.  Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), II, p. 870, November 2, 1941, Franklin Gunther to Cordell Hull.  Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), II, pp. 875-876, November 12, 1941, Memorandum by Cavendish Canon.]


Legation Consul Gyllenram, Swedish Consul in Vichy France, 1942-43?

[Levine, Paul A. From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and the Holocaust: 1938-1944. (Uppsala, Sweden: 1998), p. 125.]


J. ten Hagen, Consul for Netherlands in Marseilles, 1940

Information about this Dutch diplomat was received from Irwin Schiffres.  Information was supplied by the Dutch Foreign Ministry. 

[See e-mail dated 9/30/2001.]


Hallenberg, Sweden


Leland Harrison, U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, 1940-42?

US Ambassador to Switzerland Leland Harrison was sympathetic to Jewish rescue and relief operations working out of Switzerland.  From the US embassy in Bern, Switzerland, Harrison worked closely with World Jewish Congress agent Gerhardt Riegner.  Harrison forwarded numerous reports to the State Department regarding the murder of the Jews of Europe.  He endorsed many of these reports as being credible and recommended action be taken to provide rescue and relief to Jews.  Harrison also allowed Riegner and his staff to forward messages around the world using the embassy’s cable system.  Members of his staff Paul Chapin Squire and Howard Elting, Jr., were also sympathetic to Jewish relief causes.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 699, 1098, 1113, 1119.  Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 9, 13, 17-21, 45-46, 73, 75-77, 80-85, 87-88, 91.  Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 50, 179, 181, 184, 186.  Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ: (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), pp. 180-181, 239-240. Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), pp. 401, 404.]


Svante Hellstedt, Assistant to Gösta Engzell

[Swedish Foreign Office, The Swedish Relief Expedition to Germany 1945: Prelude and Negotiations [Stockholm, 1956], White Book, 1956; Swedish Foreign Office Archives [UDA], Stockhom; Persson, 2009, pp. 63, 66]


Einar Hennings, Swedish Diplomat in Vichy France, 1942-43?

Einar Hennings, a former kabinettssekreterare [cabinet secretary], met with French Vichy leader Pierre Laval and presented a personal protest to prevent the deportation of Russian citizens to Germany.  He also protested against ongoing Jewish deportations.  Hennings provided reports to the Swedish Foreign Ministry regarding actions against Jews.

[Levine, Paul A. From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and the Holocaust: 1938-1944. (Uppsala, Sweden: 1998), pp. 125, 159, 178.]


Werner Otto von Hentig, Head of Pol. VII in the German Foreign Ministry, 1937-?

Werner Otto von Hentig was the Head of Pol. VII, Oriental Office (Palestine Desk) in the German Foreign Ministry in 1937.  Von Hentig was a critic of the Nazis with long experience in the German Foreign Ministry.  He had previously served with the Palestine Office in the German embassy in Constantinople.  Von Hentig was highly sympathetic toward Jews.  Von Hentig supported the Zionist movement and even met with Chaim Weizmann.  He was against brutalization and stripping Jews of their property and wealth.  He supported the emigration of Jews from Germany and supported immigration to Palestine.  He was very much in support of the Havara transfer agreement, which allowed Jews to transfer their property and assets to Palestine.  Von Hentig worked with Ernst Marcus, of the Paltreu Company, part of the Havara Company.  Working with Hentig, Marcus prepared a memorandum that was called “Report to Hitler by the Foreign Office.”  It outlined the advantages to Germany of the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.  Remarkably, Hitler had made a decision in favor of this and the Ha’avara agreement.  Von Hentig, at personal risk, protested harsh measures enacted against Jews.  He interceded with German Undersecretary of State Ernst von Weizsäcker on behalf of Jews who were being persecuted.  Von Hentig was even able to have prominent Jewish members of the Reichsvertretung released from German concentration camps.

[Nicosia, Frances R. The Third Reich & the Palestine Question. (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2000), pp. 51, 126, 132, 140-142. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), pp. 82, 132. Marcus, Ernst. “The German Foreign Office and the Palestine Question in the Period 1933-1939.” Yad Vashem Studies, 2 (1958), pp. 187-202.]


Dr. Feng Shan Ho,* Consul General of China in Vienna, 1938-40

Dr. Feng Shan Ho was among the early diplomats to save Jews during the Holocaust. Ho issued numerous visas to Jews seeking to escape Austria after the Anschluss of 1938. These visas enabled thousands of Jewish refugees to reach safe haven in North and South America, Cuba, the Philippines, Palestine and Shanghai. Many Jews were released from Nazi concentration camps on the strength of Chinese visas. Ho issued the life-saving visas on his own authority, despite orders to desist and a reprimand from his superiors. Many of these visas were to rescue and relief organizations all over Europe.  In particular, Ho issued visas to Recha Sternbuch, who was operating out of Switzerland.  Ho issued hundreds of visas to Sternbuch.  Ho also issued visas to the Af-Al-Pi (“Despite Everything”) Perl transport.  The Director of the Kulturgemeinde (Jewish Community Center) in Vienna, Dr. Joseph Löwenherz, encouraged Jews to immigrate to Palestine.  Ho provided many visas to representatives of the Kulturgemeinde.  After the war, he continued a 40-year diplomatic career in the Mideast and Latin America. Ambassador Ho died in San Francisco in September 1997 at age 96.  Dr. Ho was awarded the status of Righteous Among the Nations by the state of Israel in October 2000. 

[Ho, Feng Shan. Forty Years of My Diplomatic Life. (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1991). Friedenson, Joseph, and David Kranzler, forward by Julius Kuhl. Heroine of Rescue: The Incredible Story of Recha Sternbuch Who Saved Thousands from the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1984).  Perl, William R. The Four-Front War: From the Holocaust to the Promised Land. (New York: Crown Publishers, 1978), pp. 42-43.]


Sir Reginald Hoare, British Ambassador to Bucharest, Romania

Sir Reginald Hoare was the British Ambassador in Bucharest, Romania.  He advocated helping the Jews of Eastern Europe.  Hoare stated that it was unfair the British should treat Polish Jews who were Britain’s only allies in Eastern Europe shabbily.

[Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 135.  British Foreign Office document FO 371-25243/299, July 11, 1940.]


Sir Samuel Hoare, British Ambassador to Spain in Madrid

Sir Samuel Hoare, the British Ambassador in Madrid, put pressure on the Spanish government to improve the treatment of its nationals in Nazi occupied territories. 

[Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 214.  Hoare, Sir Samuel. Ambassador on Special Mission.  (London: Collins, 1946), p. 237. Avni, Haim. “Spanish Nationals in Greece and their Fate during the Holocaust.” Yad Vashem Studies, 8 (1970), pp. 31-68.  Avni, Haim. Spain, the Jews and Franco. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1982).]


Dr. Johannes Holm, Danish Representative Attached to the Swedish Red Cross, Germany, March-April 1945

In March-April 1945, Dr. Johannes Holm was a representative for the Danish Foreign Ministry attached to the Swedish Red Cross expedition to rescue Jews from the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.  Holm had obtained papers from the Protektorat Böhmen-Mähren (Protectorate of Bohemia) to take Danish Jews from the concentration camp. 

[See Sandheden om de hvide busser (The Truth About the White Buses), Dr. Holm, published in 1984.]


Vasile Hossu, Romanian Diplomat

Vasile Hossu was a Romanian diplomat who visited the various counties of Northern Transylvania to acquaint himself with the ghettoization and deportation process.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), p. 919, fn16.  Marina, Mihai. “Nu puteam ramine impasibili!” [We could not remain impassive!] Magazin Istoric [Historical Magazine), Bucharest, no. 67, June 1976, pp. 39-41.  See also pp. 37-38.]


Julius Hüttner, Consul General for Costa Rica station in Gotterburg

Julius Hüttner may have been Swedish and serving as an honorary consul.  This information needs to be confirmed.  He also may have been Jewish.


Dr. Hvass, Danish Foreign Ministry, 1944

Dr. Hvass of the Danish Foreign Ministry, in the fall and winter of 1944, began diplomatic negotiations with Germany to secure the release of Danish prisoners.  Most of these prisoners were Danish Jews and were interned in Theresienstadt. 

[Werner, Emmy E. A Conspiracy of Decency: The Rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2002), p. 116.]


F. Imhof, Swiss Consul in Venice, Italy

Consul Imhof issued visas to refugees.


Ion Isaiu, Romanian Diplomat

Ion Isaiu was a Romanian diplomat who visited the various counties of Northern Transylvania to acquaint himself with the ghettoization and deportation process.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), p. 919.  Marina, Mihai. “Nu puteam ramine impasibili!” [We could not remain impassive!] Magazin Istoric [Historical Magazine), Bucharest, no. 67, June 1976, pp. 39-41.  See also pp. 37-38.]


Burhan Isin, Turkey, Consul General in Varna, 1942-1946

[Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993).]


Selbarty Istinyell, Turkish Chargé d’Affaires in Romania, 1942-43?

Selbarty Istinyell, the Turkish Chargé d’Affaires in Romania, worked to halt or delay the deportation of Romanian Jewry.  He worked with Chief Rabbi Alexander Safran, the Papal Nuncio Andrea Cassulo, Swiss ambassador to Romania René de Weck, and Red Cross representative to Romania Karl Kolb.

[Butnaru, I. C. The Silent Holocaust: Romania and its Jews. Safran, Alexander. Resisting the Storm: Romania 1940-1947. (1987). Lavi, T. Rumanian Jewry in World War II: Fight for Survival. (Jerusalem, 1965). Hebrew. Lavi, T. (Ed.). Rumania, Vol. 1.  In Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities. (Jerusalem, 1969). Hebrew.  Dworzecki, Meir, “The International Red Cross and its Policy Vis-à-Vis the Jews in Ghettos and Concentration Camps in Nazi-Occupied Europe,” in Gutman, Y., and E. Zuroff (Eds.). Rescue Attempts during the Holocaust: Proceedings of the Second Yad Vashem International Historical Conference, Jerusalem, 3-11 April, 1974. (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 100.]


Maurice Jacquet, Dutch Honorary Consul in Vichy France


Maximillian Jaeger, Swiss Minister in Budapest, 1936-44

In 1936, Jaeger was transferred to Budapest, where Switzerland had set up a legation that same year.  He was head of the Swiss mission, and was Carl Lutz’s direct supervisor.  Jaeger played an active role in opposing the deportation of Jews by the Nazi and Arrow Cross officials.  In particular, he tried to persuade the Nazis from deporting Jews to Auschwitz and to respect the neutrality of the 76 Swiss protected houses.  The activities of Minister Jaeger were instrumental in providing Lutz with the necessary conditions for the rescue of Jews in Budapest.  Lutz stated that the Minister always allowed him a good deal of freedom of action, and had total confidence in him.  Beginning early in the war, Jaeger sent regular reports to the Ministry in Bern regarding the fate of the Jews in Hungary.

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 756, 978, 1079. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), p. 227, 276-277, 355.  Tschuy, 2000.]


Arthur Jäger, Director General of the Hungarian Consulate in Amsterdam, 1943?

Arthur Jäger, the Director General of the Hungarian Consulate in Amsterdam, protected Jews from deportation. 

[Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981).]


Consul Janse**, Office Néerlandis (Netherlands Office)

Represented the Dutch Government-in-Exile.  Worked with the Dutch Paris Rescue Network, Holland. 

[Gutman, 2004; Moore, 2010]


Chaplain Jeppesen, Danish Legation

Helped the Folke Bernadotte Rescue Mission to Germany and Danish Rescue Mission to Teresienstadt.

[Persson, 2009, p. 84]


Herschel V. Johnson, US Minister in Stockholm, Sweden, 1943?

Herschel V. Johnson was the American Minister in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1943.  During the refugee crisis and Nazi deportation actions in Denmark and central Europe, Johnson was predisposed toward, and advocated help for, Jewish refugees.  Johnson reported that Swedish government officials and members of the Foreign Ministry had taken actions on behalf of Dutch and Norwegian Jews.  He tried to get the US government to help during this refugee crisis.  Johnson was thwarted by the US State Department in his attempts to rescue Jews.  In October 1943, he reported on the Danish-Swedish rescue of Jews.  Johnson became the War Refugee Board representative to Sweden and recommended Raoul Wallenberg for its rescue mission in Budapest, Hungary.

[Breitman, Richard. “American rescue activities in Sweden.” Holocaust and Genocide Studies.  Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ:(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), p. 258.  Persson, 2009, pp. 231-232.]


A. M. de Jong, Dutch Honorary Consul

Dutch Honorary Consul A. M. de Jong helped Jewish refugees escape Nazi-occupied Europe.


Marcel Junod (Swiss), Berlin, Germany




 

A-B                    C-J                    K-R              S-Z 

* Recognized by the State of Israel as Righteous among the Nations, Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
** Recognized by the State of Israel with Letter of Commendation.