Living Memory
The Carl Lutz Society, supported by its Board, organizes events in several countries to preserve the heritage of the Righteous of Budapest.
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May 2022: The Carl Lutz Society gave a conference in Berlin, in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in Germany.
May 2022: The Carl Lutz Society participated in the commemoration ceremony for diplomats who are Righteous Among the Nations, held at the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. In the courtyard of the Ministry there is a monument with the names of the Swiss Righteous from Budapest.
February 2022: The Carl Lutz Society, in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in Venezuela and the Espacio Anne Frank (Caracas), gave a conference on Paul Grüninger and Carl Lutz.
July 2020: the Carl Lutz Society organized a large online conference with :
Dr. Michael Berenbaum
co-founder, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
and
Dr. Mordecai Paldiel
a. Director, Department of the Righteous, Yad Vashem
A high-level discussion led by the Carl Lutz Society (Geneva), in partnership with the Sousa Mendes Foundation (New York) and the University of Miami (Florida)
The conference was introduced by the Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States
June 2020: the Carl Lutz Society, in partnership with the Espace culturel et universitaire juif d’Europe (Institut Elie Wiesel, Paris), organized an interview with two members of its Advisory Board, Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, exceptional figures decorated by Germany and France.
Nearly 3,000 people participated in this event, which was broadcast online on Zoom and on our Facebook page.
December 2019: The Carl Lutz Society was represented at the Elysee Palace, at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, as part of a UNESCO commemoration.
July 2019: the Carl Lutz Society was received at the Senate, in Paris, to present the activities of the organization and find common synergies.
July 2019: The Carl Lutz Society traveled to Paris for an interview with Serge & Beate Klarsfeld, members of the Society’s Advisory Board, famous historians who have brought many Nazi criminals to justice.
Serge Klarsfeld, decorated by the French Presidency, Special Envoy of UNESCO, is one of the most important European voices on the Holocaust. His wife Beate, decorated with the German Order of Merit, was nominated as a candidate for the German Presidency in 2012.
June 2019: The Carl Lutz Society was the guest of an evening in Geneva where it could present its activities. The organizers had dedicated a “Carl Lutz table” to represent Switzerland.
The event had as keynote speaker the a. Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.
October 2018: Carl Lutz has finally been recognized by Switzerland. Following a letter addressed by the President of the Society to the President of the National Council, Dominique de Buman, a tribute was paid to Carl Lutz in the plenary session of the Swiss Parliament. The 200 MPs present rose to applaud at the end of the speech.
“Allow us to pay tribute to all those who know – against all odds – how to live up to the dignity of being human. (Dominique de Buman, President of the National Council)
February 2018: The Swiss federal government has paid tribute to Carl Lutz by dedicating the staff room of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) to him.
This decision followed an initiative launched by the Society, supported by more than 50 parliamentarians from the National Council and Council of States, the Klarfeld Foundation, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Federal Commission against Racism, the Jewish and Protestant federations of Switzerland, as well as the Mémorial de la Shoah, in Paris.
The Carl Lutz Room is located inside the Federal Palace. A text on the wall emphasizes the importance of the values of humanity and courage that inspired Carl Lutz and his colleagues in the Budapest Legation as a source of inspiration for Switzerland.
The inauguration of the “Carl Lutz Room” was attended by the Federal Councillor (Minister) in charge of Foreign Affairs, Ignazio Cassis.
