Rescue in the Holocaust by Governments and Leaders
Heads of State who Rescued or Helped Jews
Royalty and Regents
Princess Alice of Greece*
Princess Alice of Greece, a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria—and mother of Prince Philip of England—hid and saved Jews in her personal residence in Athens. For this, she was made a Righteous Person by the State of Israel in 1993.
King Boris III of Bulgaria
King Boris of Bulgaria is a controversial figure in the rescue of the Jews of Bulgaria. Early in the war, Boris allowed the deportation of the Jews in the Bulgarian territories of Thrace and Macedonia. As the war turned against the Nazis, Boris resisted the request to deport Bulgarian Jews. He personally met with Hitler and refused to cooperate in any actions against Jews. His exact role is still somewhat controversial.
King Christian X of Denmark*
King Christian X of Denmark refused to cooperate in the persecution or deportation of Danish Jews. A popular but untrue story is that when the order came to force Jews to wear the yellow star, he threatened to wear the star himself. The King later resigned in protest of the German occupation and the proposed deportation of Danish Jews. Throughout the war, the King stood as a symbol of Danish resistance. The entire country of Denmark was awarded the status as a Righteous Nation for its activities in saving the lives of its Jewish population. This is the only case where an entire nation is honored in this way.
Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians*
Queen Elisabeth, Queen Mother of Belgium, was declared Righteous among the Nations in 1965. On August 1, 1942, she openly received three Jews wearing their yellow stars. On August 4, 1942, she informed the A. J. B. by means of the Red Cross that Belgian Jews would not be deported. However, one year later, the SS organized a special raid targeting Belgian Jews and deported them all to the Dossin barracks. Queen Elisabeth's intercessions with the German military government were, nevertheless, very effective and resulted in several hundreds of Jews being saved, including many children and old people. Queen Elisabeth also worked with the Archbishop of Malines and the Belgian Secretary General of Justice.
King Carl Gustav V of Sweden
King Gustav V of Sweden sent a firm message protesting the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy. This note, along with protests by the British and American governments, contributed to Horthy’s decision to stop the deportations in July 1944. Gustav V of Sweden personally approved Raoul Wallenberg’s mission to Budapest.
Prince Carl of Sweden, Head of the Swedish Red Cross
King Michael (Mihai) of Romania
King Michael of Romania, at the request of neutral diplomats and Jewish community leaders along with opposition parties and Romanian clergymen, asked the Romanian government to protect Romanian Jewry and to help deported Jews in Transnistria. He also asked for the cancellation of the planned genocide of Jews.
Queen Mother Helena (Ellen) of Romania*
Queen Mother Helena of Romania, at the request of neutral diplomats and Jewish community leaders along with opposition parties and Romanian clergymen, asked the Romanian government to protect Romanian Jewry and to help deported Jews in Transnistria. She also asked for the cancellation of the planned genocide of Jews. Queen Mother Helena was declared Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1993.
Queen Wilhelmina of Holland
Queen Wilhelmina of Holland helped procure visas for Jewish refugees in Holland. These visas were requested by Julius Steinfeld.
Heads of State
Edvard Benes, President of Czechoslovakian Government in Exile, London, England
During the five years of exile, Edvard Benes acted as the leader of the Czech government in exile. He was the chief architect of his government’s policies. He acted as president, premier, foreign minister and ambassador. Benes kept in constant contact with the Czechoslovakian and Slovak Home Resistance. He also maintained contacts in the Protectorate Government, the Czechoslovak Communist Party, and Jewish organizations.
Benes saw the betrayal of Czechoslovakia in the Munich agreement as a great failure of the free world. He struggled throughout the war to gain international recognition for the First Republic and its original boundaries.
Benes and the Czechoslovak National Council in London took up the question of protection and emigration of Jews trapped in the occupied Protectorate and of Czech Jews living in Palestine.
A plan to facilitate the emigration of several thousand Jews from Czechoslovakia came up in 1939-1940. In order to facilitate this emigration, Edvard Benes and Jan Masaryk arranged with the British government the terms of the so-called Czech Transfer. This agreement was between the Jewish Agency of Palestine and the Czechoslovak government in January 1939. The agreement provided for the emigration of 2,500 Czech Jews and the transfer of 500,000 pounds from the Bank of England to the British Mandatory Government in Palestine.
Two separate groups of emigrants were able to escape to Palestine. By the end of 1939, there were approximately 6,000-7,000 Czechoslovak Jews in Palestine holding Czechoslovak passports.
Throughout the war, Edvard Benes was an advocate on behalf of Jewish victims of Nazi murder in Czechoslovakia.
Lázaro Cardenas, President of Mexico, 1934-1940
President Lázaro Cardenas of Mexico adopted a liberal policy of letting Jewish refugees enter Mexico during the war years.
Cardenas appointed Gilberto Bosques to be the acting Ambassador of Mexico to France. Bosques convinced Cardenas to allow former Spanish Republican soldiers who fought against Franco to enter Mexico, 1941.
Cardenas allowed between 30,000 and 40,000 Spanish Republican soldiers to take refuge in Mexico. In addition, he allowed nearly 2,000 Jews to have refuge in Mexico. His greatest contribution was empowering members of his diplomatic staff to help many Jews from their posts.
Avila Camacho, President of Mexico, 1941-1946
Avila Camacho was President of Mexico from 1941 to 1946. Camacho was elected in the conservative party. He succeeded Lazaro Cardenas, who was from the socialist Labor Party. Despite Camacho’s position on the right of the political spectrum, his policies in regard to letting Jews into Mexico during the war were even more liberal than his predecessor.
President Camacho allowed his diplomatic representatives in France to continue to protect and facilitate the immigration of Jews and Spanish Republican soldiers.
Castenendu Castro, President of El Salvador
Castenendu Castro, President of El Salvador, approved of the issuing of protective papers to Jews in central Europe.
Archbishop George Damaskinos,* Metropolitan of Athens, Acting Head of State for Greek Government in Exile
After the Greek government went into exile, Archbishop George Damaskinos, Metropolitan of Athens, became temporary head of state. During his tenure as Metropolitan of Athens, he encouraged members of the Greek Orthodox Church and clergymen to hide Jews throughout Greece. He made numerous protests against the Nazi persecution of Jews. He issued church encyclicals, hid Jewish children, and issued false Baptismal Certificates to Jews. For his actions, he was declared Righteous Among the Nations in 1969.
Jean-Marie Musy, Former President of the Federal Council of Switzerland, 1945
Jean-Marie Musy was the President and head of State in Switzerland. Musy made contact with the head of the SS Foreign Communications Service, Walter Schellenberg, and managed to ransom 1,200 Jews from the Theresienstadt concentration camp. They were brought to Switzerland.
Manuel L. Quezon, President of the Philippines
Manuel L. Quezon was the first President of the Philippines after the establishment of the Philippine Republic in 1935. He allowed more than 1,200 German and Austrian Jews to come to the Philippines as refugees in the late 1930s. The Philippines was still an American protectorate. Quezon was convinced by American Jewish manufacturer Alex Frieder that Jewish refugees would contribute to the Philippine economy.
General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic
In 1938, General Rafael Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic, offered to give sanctuary to 100,000 European Jews. After the war began, immigration became almost impossible. More than 5,000 Dominican visas were issued to European Jews between 1940 and 1945. Six hundred forty-five European Jews, mostly from Germany and Austria, eventually went to the Dominican Republic.
Most Jews settled in the seacoast town of Sousa. This town was made into a farming area due to the funding provided by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Each Jewish immigrant was given 80 acres of land, ten cows, a mule, and a horse by the Dominican government. The Jewish community established a large farming cooperative, Productos Sousa. This cooperative continues to produce much of the Dominican Republic’s meat and dairy products.
Prime Ministers
Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, 1940-1945
Prime Minister Calinescu of Romania
Prime Minister Calinescu of Romania helped Jews transit through Romania before the outbreak of the war in Europe. Willi Perl, director of the Af-Al-Pi (“Despite Everything”) transport, writes in his book, The Four-Front War: “Our immediate obstacle right then was not a scarcity of ships, therefore. With the coming of winter, the freezing of the Danube rendered the river unnavigable from the Bulgarian border. This meant that we had to fall back on transit visas, a procedure which had caused so much trouble and tragedy before. The British were, of course well aware of our need for transit visas, and they, in effect, tried to bottle up those being hunted down in Nazi Germany. However, Zeev Jabotinsky’s visit to the Balkans in October 1938, during which he intervened with Mr. Calinescu, the Rumanian prime minister, and other Balkan statesmen, had created in these countries a more favorable climate for us. Yet to let us through without a visa of destination would have been interpreted as an overt rejection of a legally founded British request. But by giving assurances that the refugees had not the slightest intention of really traveling there…[they were able to obtain the visas].”
Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson of Sweden
Swedish Prime Minister per Albin Hansson was initially reluctant to help Jews fleeing the Nazi onslaught. He was concerned about violating Swedish neutrality and causing a German invasion. Hansson had a change of heart after 1940 and allowed thousands of Jewish and other refugees to enter their country. Thousands of Jews from Finland, Norway and Denmark were given safe refuge. Hansson further agreed to accept Jewish refugees from Denmark during the German action of October 1943. At that time, Hansson met with German diplomat Georg Duckwitz to make these arrangements.
The Swedish government also encouraged diplomats throughout Europe to provide protection in the form of protective papers, visas and documents.
Hansson and the Swedish foreign ministry agreed to empower Swedish diplomats in Budapest to rescue Jews in 1944-45.
Prime Minister Kállay of Hungary
Prime Minister Johann Wilhelm Rangell of Finland
Johann Wilhelm Rangell, the Prime Minister of Finland in 1942, refused even to discuss the deportation of Finnish Jews and Jewish refugees in Finland with SS leader Heinrich Himmler. The vast majority of Finnish Jews and other Jewish refugees in Finland were saved from deportation and murder. When World War II began, Russia became a military threat to Finland. Consequently, Finland sought an alliance with Germany rather than losing their independence. In 1942, German troops occupied Northern Finland and the Nazis enacted anti-Jewish laws.
In July 1942, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler went to Helsinki to enlist Finnish government cooperation in deporting Finland’s Jews to concentration camps. There were 2,000 Jews living in Finland. Some of these Jews were refugees who had immigrated from Germany and Austria before 1939.
Finnish military Commander in Chief Field Marshall Karl Gustaf von Mannerheim informed German officials that if even one of the Finnish Jews was molested, Finland would declare war on Germany. Nonetheless, in February 1943, eight Jews were deported from Helsinki to the Auschwitz. Only one survived. When information about the true nature of the deportations reached Finland, there was widespread protest by the Finnish Social Democratic Party. In addition, Finnish clergymen and the Archbishop of Helsinki protested. As a result of these protests, the Finnish cabinet refused to allow any further deportations of Jews.
Foreign Ministers
De Valera, Ireland
De Valera instructed Thomas J. Kiernan, Ireland’s diplomatic envoy to the Vatican, to intervene on behalf of Jews both in Hungary and in Slovakia. De Valera secretly supported the Allied powers during the war. In addition, he supported the Irish Jewish community.
Giacomo Guariglia, Italian Ambassador to Paris and the Vatican, 1942-1944?, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1944-45?
Giacomo Guariglia was the Italian Ambassador to Paris in 1942. His protection of Jews was so open and blatant that the German Foreign Minister Joaquin Ribbentrop personally complained to Italian dictator Mussolini. In November 1942, Guariglia, then the Italian Ambassador to the Vatican, was asked by the Vatican Secretary of State to intervene with the Italian Foreign Minister to prevent the extradition of Jews. Later, Guariglia was promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Christian Guenther, Swedish Foreign Minister
In the autumn of 1943, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Christian Guenther negotiated for the release of Danish and Norwegian prisoners held in German camps. This eventually led to the release of thousands of prisoners to the Swedish Red Cross under the supervision of Folke Bernadotte in March and April 1945.
Gösta Engzell, Head of Legal Division of the Swedish Foreign Office, Stockholm, Sweden, World War II
Gösta Engzell headed the Legal Division of the Swedish Foreign Office throughout the war. He was the individual most responsible for the positive switch in the Swedish government’s official policy and response to the murder of European Jews. He convinced the Swedish government to help Jews in Nazi controlled territories. He empowered diplomats in Norway, Denmark and later in Budapest. He was responsible for empowering Swedish diplomats Carl Ivan Danielsson and Per Anger to issue Swedish protective papers to Budapest Jews. By the end of the war, Swedish action on behalf of Jews in Europe, almost always initiated or supported by Engzell and his staff, contributed to the rescue and relief of 30,000-40,000 Jews.
Marcel Pilet-Golaz, Swiss Foreign Minister, 1944
Marcel Pilet-Golaz, the Swiss Foreign Minister, received authority from the Swiss Federal Council “to offer a temporary refuge in Switzerland to 8,000 Hungarian Jews.” Pilet-Golaz agreed to proceed with the rescue plan under Anglo-American guarantees.
Baron Gábor Kemény, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
Baron Gabor Kemenyi was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the anti-Semitic Arrow Cross government of Szalasi. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg convinced Kemenyi, whose wife was Jewish, to help Jews during the deportation and attacks on Jews. Kemenyi interceded on behalf of Jews on several occasions.
Jan Masaryk, Ambassador of Czech Government in Exile, London, England
Jan Masaryk, Ambassador of Czech Government in Exile, London, England. Later, he was appointed Foreign Minister of the Czech Government in Exile. He worked with Victor Benes to establish a Czech Transfer Agreement to facilitate the escape of Czech Jews to Palestine in 1939.
Jan Masaryk endorsed and participated in efforts to rescue Jews from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia. He intervened on a number of occasions with the British Foreign Office, in his capacity as Ambassador in London, and later as Czechoslovak Foreign Minister.
He was active in protesting the Nazi persecution of Jews in Czechoslovakia and throughout Europe. He sent numerous radio messages sympathetic to Jews throughout Europe.
Numan Menemencioglu, Turkey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1942-1944
Paul V. McNutt, American High Commissioner for the Philippines, 1938-1939
Paul V. McNutt was the American High Commission for the Philippines, 1938-1939. McNutt was able to convince the US State Department to allow more than 1,200 German and Austrian Jewish refugees to find sanctuary in the Philippines. At this time, the Philippines was still an American protectorate. McNutt was convinced by American Jew Alex Frieder that these Jewish refugees would be an asset to the Philippine economy. Philippine President Manuel Quezon was also convinced to let the Jews enter.
Hubert Ripka, Acting Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1944
The Acting Czechoslovakian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hubert Ripka requested that the Allied governments issue an emphatic demarche and warning to the German government regarding war crimes in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and elsewhere.
Rolf Whitting, Foreign Minister of Finland
Nazism did not flourish in the small Scandinavian nation of Finland. In the late 1930’s, when news reached Finland that the Nazis were persecuting Jews in Germany, Finnish leaders and the Finnish press expressed harsh disapproval. When World War II began, however, Russia became a military threat to Finland. Consequently, Finland sought an alliance with Germany rather than losing their independence. In 1942, German troops occupied Northern Finland and the Nazis enacted anti-Jewish laws. In July 1942, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler went to Helsinki to enlist Finnish government cooperation in deporting Finland’s Jews to concentration camps. There were 2,000 Jews living in Finland. Finnish Foreign Minister Rolf Whitting and other members of the government refused to cooperate and subsequently only eight Jews were deported.
Italian Government Officials and Cooperating Individuals
Giuseppe Bastianini, Italy, Governor of Dalmatia, 1941-43, and Undersecretary, Italian Foreign Ministry, 1943-45
In the spring of 1941, Giuseppe Bastianini was appointed Italian Governor of Dalmatia. He was directly involved in protecting Jewish refugees in the Italian zone of occupation from deportation and murder. As Undersecretary of the Italian Foreign Ministry (appointed February 1943), Bastiannini submitted an important memorandum for the signature of Mussolini to protect Jews in the Italian zones of occupation. He convinced Mussolini that the Italian Army and diplomatic corps must not collaborate in the killing of Jews. On two separate occasions, he told Mussolini that if he signed an order for deportation of Jews, the responsibility for their deaths would be his. Mussolini agreed not to cooperate with German deportation orders on both of these occasions. Further, Bastiannini encouraged diplomats under his supervision to protect Jews.
Giacomo Guariglia, Italian Ambassador to Paris and the Vatican, 1942-1944?, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1944-45?
Giacomo Guariglia was the Italian Ambassador to Paris in 1942. His protection of Jews was so open and blatant that the German Foreign Minister Joaquin Ribbentrop personally complained to Italian dictator Mussolini. In November 1942, Guariglia, then the Italian Ambassador to the Vatican, was asked by the Vatican Secretary of State to intervene with the Italian Foreign Minister to prevent the extradition of Jews. Later, Guariglia was promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Augusto Rosso, Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry of Italy, 1943
After the fall of the Italian fascist party in July 1943, Marshal Pietro Badoglio established a new party that negotiated the cease fire with the Allies. The newly appointed Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, Augusto Rosso, sent a cable and policy statement to the military officers in charge of the refugees in Croatia which reinforced the Ministry’s previous position to protect Jews in the occupied territories. The effort to save Jews from the deportation no longer had to be kept a secret.
Rudolph Rahn, German Ambassador in Tunisia and Rome, Italy, 1942-1944?
Rudolph Rahn, the German Ambassador to Rome, Italy, in 1943, intervened to remove Jews from the jurisdiction of the Gestapo to protect them from being deported. He recommended that Jews be used for local labor service for the benefit of the German Army in lieu of deportation. He did this with the approval of German commander and Field Marshall Kesselring.
Rahn, along with diplomat Möllhausen, helped stop Hitler from his proposed occupation of Vatican City after the fall of Mussolini in 1943.
Domingo de las Barcenas, Spanish Ambassador to Rome, 1942-1943
Domingo de las Barcenas, the Spanish Ambassador to Rome, was warned of the impending deportation of Jews in Rome in December 1942. Barcenas tried to find safe houses for Jews in Rome that were maintained by Catholic religious orders. These safe houses were later raided and Jews deported. Barcenas then went to the Vatican and met with Vatican Secretary of State Montini protesting the deportations. Together, they went to the German embassy and again protested deportations. Eichmann protested the Spanish Embassy’s “interference” in Rome to officials in Madrid.
Manuel Malbrán, Argentine Ambassador to Italy, 1938-39
Manuel Malbrán was the Argentine Ambassador to Italy in 1938-39. Ambassador Malbrán reported to the Argentine Foreign Ministry regarding anti-Semitic persecution of Jews by the Italian government. The Argentine Foreign Ministry declined to intervene on behalf of Argentine Jews in Italy. Malbrán requested permission to protect Argentine Jewish property in Italy. As a result of his repeated requests, he was granted limited powers to protect Argentine Jewish property.
Stj. Peric, Croatian Ambassador to Rome, 1942
Stj. Peric, the Croatian Ambassador to Rome, had a conversation with Roberto Ducci regarding the deportation of Jews in Croatia. Peric was personally against the deportation of Jews, as he was aware the deportation would mean their murder.
Mr. Cameracescu, Romanian Minister in Rome, 1943
Romanian diplomat Cameracescu issued protective papers to Jews in Rome, Italy, in 1943. He worked with the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem) and Father Marie-Benoit.
Eitel Friedrich Möllhausen, German Acting Consul General in Rome, 1943
Eitel Friedrich Möllhausen became the German Acting Consul General in Rome, Italy, after the Consul General had been seriously injured in an automobile accident.
Möllhausen thwarted a plan by Himmler to deport all of Rome’s Jews in September 1943. Möllhausen understood that the deportation of the Jews would mean that they would be murdered. Möllhausen stated emphatically that the planned deportation was both morally and politically wrong. He approached German Field Marshall Kesselring to help him to stop the planned deportation. Kesselring supported Möllhausen. As a result, many Jews were spared deportation. Möllhausen even wired German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop personally to try to rescind the order to deport the Jews of Rome. Möllhausen used the term “liquidate” in his personal telegram to Ribbentrop. Ribbentrop was furious over Möllhausen’s use of the word “liquidate,” and reprimanded Möllhausen for his indiscretion.
Möllhausen was not a member of the Nazi Party. Möllhausen’s girlfriend in Rome hid a Jewish family with his full knowledge and approval.
Mr. Chauvet, Swiss Legation in Rome, 1943
Mr. Chauvet, of the Swiss legation in Rome, issued Swiss protective letters to Jews and certified that they were French citizens. Eventually, Chauvet expanded his protection to falsely certify that all refugees were French. Chauvet distributed false documents to hundreds of Jews. He worked with the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem) and Father Marie-Benoit.
Viktor Szász, Hungarian Consul in German-Occupied Italy, 1943-44?
Viktor Szász was the Hungarian Consul in German-occupied Italy. He was an assistant in the rescue activity of Father Marie-Bénoit. He issued hundreds of identity documents for the Jewish protectees of Father Bénoit. He worked with the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem).
Ms. Solange Pinzauti-Fivé, French Consulate in Rome, Italy, 1943
Mademoiselle Solange Pinzauti-Fivé, of the French consulate in Rome, helped Jews and other refugees in Rome during the Nazi occupation.
François de Vial, Diplomat at the French Embassy in Rome, 1943
François de Vial was a diplomat at the French embassy in Rome in 1943. De Vial helped Father Benedetto and the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; DELASEM) in their rescue of Jews. He did this without permission from Vichy.
Yves Debroise, French diplomat in Rome, Italy, 1943
Mr. Yves Debroise, of the French consulate in Rome, issued counterfeited French protective papers to assist French and Italian Jews in Rome, Italy, after the surrender of Italy on September 8, 1943. He worked with the Jewish relief agency Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem) and Father Marie-Benoit.
Cyril Kotnik, Yugoslav Consul in Rome, 1943
Yugoslavian consul in Rome Cyril Kotnik helped the Jews of the Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; DELASEM). Consul Kotnik was also active in helping Father Marie-Benoit. Kotnik was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo for his activities. He died after the war from injuries inflicted on him by the Gestapo while in prison. On April 17, 1955, he was posthumously given a special gold medal by the Hebrew Union of Italy.
Elow Kihlgren,* Swedish diplomat stationed in Italy
Awarded Righteous Among the Nations status by the State of Israel in 2001.
Leonard Ackermann, WRB representative in North Africa and Italy, 1944-45
Leonard Ackermann was the WRB representative in North Africa and Italy in 1944-1945. He had only very limited success in effecting the rescue and relief of Jews.
Count de Salis, International Committee of the Red Cross, Rome, Italy, 1943
Count de Salis, of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with the help of Father Marie-Bénoit, helped save a child from the Gestapo.
Stefan Schwamm, Member of the Executive Committee, DELASEM
Stefan Schwamm was a member of the Executive committee of the Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem) and worked with Father Marie-Bénoit in protecting Jews in Rome, Italy. On several occasions, Schwamm posed as Monsieur Bernard Lioré, a French delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help Jews be released from imprisonment.
Red Cross Legation in Rome
Father Marie-Benoit, under the auspices of DELASEM, obtained protective documents for Jews from the Red Cross legation in Rome. These documents protected Jews, at least in part, from deportation.
Swiss legation in Rome, Italy
Father Marie-Benoit, under the auspices of DELASEM, obtained protective documents for Jews from the Swiss legation in Rome. These documents protected Jews, at least in part, from deportation.
Volunteers who Worked for Diplomats in Rome
Father Pierre Marie-Bénoit (Benedetto), President, Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem), 1942-1945
Father Marie-Bénoit, a Catholic Capuchin monk, was an organizer of one of the most successful rescues of Jews in the Holocaust. He worked in Southern France and later throughout Italy. He organized the rescue of thousands of Jews and other refugees from the Nazis. He was President of the Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; DELASEM). Bénoit worked with numerous diplomats from Switzerland, Romania, Hungary and Spain in helping Jews. Father Benedetto was known by his friends as the Father of the Jews. Father Bénoit was declared Righteous Among the Nations in 1966.
Mr. Charrier, Director of the Ration Card Office for Foreigners, Rome, Italy, 1943
Mr. Charrier was the Director of the Ration Card Office for Foreigners for the Italian government. Charrier issued over 1,300 illegally-distributed ration cards to Jewish refugees trapped in Rome. Charrier worked with Father Bénoit and the Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem).
Dr. Angelo de Fiore, Director of the Questura Bureau for Foreigners, Rome, Italy, 1943
Dr. Fiore issued letters of identification and status for Jewish refugees on behalf of the Italian government. He did this without official authorization. For his work in helping Jews and other refugees, he was awarded 18 international decorations, including the French Legion of Honor. He worked with Father Bénoit and the Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; Delasem). Dr. Angelo de Fiore was awarded a special gold medal for his lifesaving activities in Italy by the Hebrew Union of Italy.