This is the schutzbriefe or safe conduct document issued to Istvan Domonkos on October 23, 1944 by the Swiss government. The document, written in German and Hungarian, states that the bearer, Istvan Domonkos, is registered with the Swiss government and approved for emigration. At the top of the document is the seal of Switzerland, a red shield with a white cross. At the bottom of the document is the stamp of the Swiss Embassy in Budapest. Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat, issued the safe conduct documents which were responsible for saving 62,000 Hungarian Jews.
This document allowed Domonkos, a Hungarian Jew, certain protection to move freely in Nazi-occupied Budapest. However, Domonkos later reported:
Since I had a uniform, I could move around safely. The uniform was my poor brother’s [who died in forced labour]…The cloak was also quite shabby, which was good because the Arrow Cross men didn’t check soldiers like this, they weren’t interested…So I was never checked by any Arrow Cross men. And that was good, because I didn’t have the appropriate papers. The Swedish and Swiss safe conduct didn’t go with the worn uniform.
Istvan Domonkos’ father, Miksa, had been a decorated soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I. During World War II, he acted as the de facto mayor of the Budapest ghetto, bringing in food and medicine to save lives and working closely with Raoul Wallenberg to protect the Jews. In the 1950s, the Communist secret police arrested Miksa Domonkos and accused him of murdering Wallenberg. After months of torture he died in 1954.
Istvan Domonkos survived the war, and with the end of the communist rule in Hungary, he became involved in the democratic political activities in the country.
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Carl Lutz – Carl Lutz (1895–1975) was a Swiss diplomat who is credited with saving 62,000 Hungarian Jews by issuing fake passports and protective letters and by establishing safe houses. Lutz arrived in Budapest in January 1942 to represent American and British interests in Hungary. When the Nazis invaded Hungary, Lutz joined in the efforts to save Jews. He issued schutzbriefe, documents that put them under Swiss protection, and together with his wife, Gertrud, he provided food and medical treatment and rented 76 apartments which he used to house 3000 people under his protection. The house at Vadasz Street 29, called The Glass House, also housed Lutz’s offices. In November 1944, the Germans, under the command of Adolf Eichmann, marched the Jews of Budapest to the Austrian border. Lutz and Gertrud followed the march, pulling as many Jews as they could out of the march and putting them under Swiss protection. Carl and Gertrud Lutz were both recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.
The Jews of Hungary During the Holocaust – In the years before World War II, the Jews in Hungary comprised five percent of the population. They were very successful, and many belonged to the commercial, political, academic, and social elites. Their success caused much resentment, and there was widespread anti-Semitism including the passing of anti-Jewish laws and the emergence of fascist parties such as the Arrow Cross Party. Under the rule of Miklós Horthy (1920–1944) Jews lost most of their rights and were called up to serve in unarmed labour service units, where many died due to the difficult conditions. In March 1944 the Nazis took over Hungary, and Jews were rapidly rounded up and sent to ghettos. The deportation of Jews to Auschwitz began in May 1944 under the supervision of Adolph Eichmann with the assistance of the Hungarian authorities. Ninety percent of the Hungarian Jews were killed upon arrival. Few efforts were made by the Hungarians to rescue the Jews, however international efforts by the US president and the Swedish king urged a halt to the deportations, and diplomats such as Raoul Wallenberg, Carl Lutz, and others took heroic steps to protect Jews. Finally Horthy ordered the discontinuation of the deportations, and Eichmann left Hungary. The situation for the Jews remained dire, and the Jews of Budapest were sent to live in the ghetto. Thousands of Jews were murdered on the banks of the Danube and others forced to march to the Austrian border. In all around 565,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered, most of them in a short period of eight weeks.
