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Img. ID: 446751

© Samuel D. Gruber, Photographer: Gruber, Samuel D., 2022

Who is Commemorated?

Carl Lutz (1895-1975) 

Description

The sculptural group consists of two bronze life-size figures, one attached high on a building wall and the other lying prone on the cobbled pavement. The two are visually connected by a long undulating bronze sheet that descends from the wall figure like a ribbon.

The upper figure is gilded and appears to be flying out of the building wall, projecting perpendicular to the wall, looking down, and holding the long cloth that falls to the ground near the figure lying on the ground. The upper figure is a golden angel of hope, offering a lifeline to the distressed. The figure of ground is on his back but rises slightly and reaches for the cloth, pointing with the index finger of his right hand. This figure appears wrapped in a wide ribbon the wraps around his body, leaving arms, legs, and upper torso exposed. The figure is represented with a short beard, and the top of the head wrapped in a turban with a top knot.
There is a plaque on the ground with an inscription in Hungarian and one on the wall, with the same passage in English. The plaques contain a quotation from the Mishnah: “Whoever saves a life is considered as if he has saved an entire world” (Sanhedrin 37a).

Inscriptions

In Hungarian:

"AKI EGYETLEN EMBERT IS MEGMENT,
MINTHA EGY EGÉSZ VILÁGOT
MENTENE MEG."     (TALMUD)

AZOK EMLÉKÉRE AKIK CARL LUTZ SVÁJCI
KONZUL VEZETÉSÉVEL A NÁCIZMUS
ÜLDÖZÖTTEINEK EZREIT MENTETTÉK MEG 1944-BEN.

SVÁJCI CARL LUTZ BIZOTTSÁG
BUDAPEST FŐVÁROS KÖZGYŰLÉSE
            1991

In English:

“WHOEVER SAVES A LIFE IS CONSIDERED
AS IF HE HAS SAVED AN ENTIRE WORLD”
/TALMUD/.

 IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO IN 1944
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SWISS CONSUL
CARL LUTZ/1895-1975/ RESCUED THOUSANDS
FROM NATIONAL SOCIALIST PERSECUTION.”


Righteous Gentile - a true man among the people of the world - Carl Lutz has been recognized as one of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Commissioned by

Carl Lutz Board (Swiss), with support of Budapest City Council

Name/Title
Carl Lutz Monument in Budapest | Unknown
Object Detail
Date
1991
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Szabó, Tamás
(Unknown)
Origin
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Hungary | Budapest
| Dob utca 10
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Material / Technique
bronze
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks
Remarks
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

Carl Lutz was the Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest in 1944 and helped save tens of thousands of Jews through so-called safe houses and emigration papers. Lutz also helped to prevent the Arrow Cross Party from destroying the Budapest ghetto.

Following World War II, Lutz’s heroic actions were largely forgotten. In his home country of Switzerland, he was accused of having exceeded his diplomatic authority in his work to save Jews from deportation. In 1965, however, Yad Vashem awarded him the medal of the Righteous Among the Nations, and his story began to be better known.

In 1991, the monument by sculptor Tamás Szabó was installed near one of the entrances to the former Budapest ghetto. This brought him more to the attention of Hungarians, but also to the thousands of tourists who began to flood Budapest in the 1990s. In 2010, the territory around the monument was rearranged by the municipality of Erzsébetváros.

The Foundation Carl Lutz, now named the Carl Lutz Society, was established in 2005 to keep Lutz’s memory alive. A memorial room in the former “Glass House” in 2005.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography
Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Zoya Arshavsky, Vladimir Levin | 2018
Author of description
Samuel D. Gruber | 2021
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
|
Donor
Keller Foundation | 2018
Negative/Photo. No.
A554006