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