Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Alice Irizarry.
Voice 2
And I’m Colin Lowther. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Voice 1
In 1944, a Jewish woman was brought to the banks of the Danube River and shot. There was a shout as she fell into the water. A small man in glasses raced past armed members of the Arrow Cross. These dangerous soldiers were members of the ruling fascist party. They were allies with the Nazis. They believed that Jewish people were less than human.
Voice 2
But Carl Lutz was not frightened of those soldiers. He jumped into the river after the bleeding woman. The Arrow Cross members were too shocked to react as Lutz pulled her from the water. Lutz lied to the officers. He told them that the woman was a Swiss citizen. He said he was taking her to a hospital. The soldiers were so surprised that they let the woman go. She was free! And Carl Lutz had saved another life.
Voice 1
Lutz was an ambassador to Hungary during World War Two. He was Swiss. Switzerland was neutral in this war. It did not choose a side. But Lutz found he could not stand by and watch while people died. He decided he needed to help. In doing so, he saved over 60,000 lives. Today’s Spotlight is on Carl Lutz.
Voice 2
Carl Lutz was born in 1895, in Switzerland. Lutz’s family was very religious. They were Christians, who believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Lutz’s parents also tried to help others as much as they could. They gave to the poor. They were also pacifists. Pacifists believe any kind of violence is wrong. Leo Tolstoy was a famous writer and pacifist. He once wrote:
Voice 3
“In all history there is no war which was not planned by the governments. The governments alone. This is different from the interests of the people. For the people, war is always harmful even when successful.”
Voice 1
Lutz held many of the ideas he learned in his childhood for the rest of his life. For many years, he even tried to become a Christian religious leader. But he soon discovered he was better at diplomacy. He represented his country in The United States, Palestine, and Hungary.
Voice 2
Lutz’s time in Hungary was particularly challenging. The Second World War had begun in 1939. Hungary was one of the Axis powers, like Nazi Germany, Italy, and Imperial Japan. Lutz was supposed to remain neutral. But the Axis powers were responsible for some of the worst crimes of the war. Lutz arrived in Hungary in 1942. That same year, the Nazis started the Holocaust. They planned to kill every Jewish person in the world.
Voice 1
The situation was different in Hungary for several years. The Arrow Cross’ ideas were like the Nazis’. But they were not part of the Holocaust. This changed in 1944, when the Nazis occupied the country. The Germans took over the government and forced their ideas on the country. They shipped many Hungarian Jews to death camps like Auschwitz and Birkenau. Lutz could not stand by and watch this violence. Charlotte Schallié is a Holocaust expert. She told the British Broadcasting Corporation:
Voice 4
“After the German occupation of Budapest, the Hungarian Jewry in the countryside was quickly taken to Auschwitz. Lutz understood he needed to act very fast.”
Voice 2
As a diplomat, Lutz had worked with the Nazis before. He had their trust. He visited one of the Nazi leaders, named Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann was responsible for organizing the Holocaust. Lutz asked the Nazi leader if he could print 8,000 letters of protection for Jews living in Budapest. These letters would ensure a person’s safety. Eichmann made fun of his efforts. But Lutz got his permission thanks to his earlier work with the Germans.
Voice 1
Lutz immediately went into action. He made it seem like he had not correctly understood his agreement with Eichmann. He printed enough letters of protection for 8,000 families. He gave them to anyone who needed protection. Once he ran out, he simply printed the letters again.
Voice 2
After some time, the Nazis found that some of Lutz’s letters were copies. They brought Carl and his wife to a work camp, where the Nazis kept Jewish prisoners. They made them identify their false paperwork. They both tried to lie about as much as they could. But they had to be careful, as many were sent to the death camps.
Voice 1
This only strengthened Lutz’s resolve. He knew he could not save everyone with his letters. The Nazis might kill people even if they had the right papers. So, Lutz organized 72 places in the city where Jews could hide. He named these official parts of Switzerland. Soldiers entering these buildings would face punishment. The most famous of these buildings is called the Glass House. At one point, 3,000 Jews hid there.
Voice 2
Many Hungarian Jews died in the Holocaust. In fact, more Jewish Hungarians were killed than Jews from any other country. But Lutz’s efforts had an amazing effect. They were responsible for half of Hungary’s surviving Jews.
Voice 1
When the war ended, his family went home. They expected Lutz would be a hero. But no one welcomed Lutz on his return to Switzerland. The leaders criticized him. Switzerland was supposed to be neutral. He had endangered that neutrality.
Voice 2
This criticism came as a shock to Lutz. He had watched people die in front of him. He was already filled with guilt over the people he could not save. His health got worse. He spent some time in a mental hospital. He and his wife got a divorce. He continued to work for his country. But he felt rejected and alone.
Voice 1
But time would honor Carl Lutz. He recovered, and returned to work. In 1949, he fell in love with and married a woman he had saved in Budapest. And in 1961, the Swiss government changed their position. They decided that Lutz’s efforts had been justified. He was considered for the Nobel Peace Prize several times.
Voice 2
Few people celebrated Carl Lutz’s efforts in his own country. Right before his death in 1975 he still felt a sense of failure. But for those he saved, Lutz was one of the most important people they would ever meet. Agnes Hirschi was Lutz’s daughter through his second marriage. He saved her and her mother from death. She told the BBC:
Voice 5
“I think he was a hero. He was a very quiet man. It was not really in his nature to do what he did. But he saw the pain of the Jews. He thought he had to help.”
Voice 1
Why do you think Carl Lutz did what he did? Would you try to save the life of someone you did not know? You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. You can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.
Voice 2
The writer of this program was Dan Christmann. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. No A.I., or artificial intelligence, was used in this program. Spotlight programs are written, voiced, and produced by real people for real people, no matter where in the world they live. This program is called, “Carl Lutz: The Quiet Hero.”
Voice 1
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
Question:
Why do you think Carl Lutz did what he did? Would you try to save the life of someone you did not know?
