Representatives of the Hungarian government,
Mrs. Agnes Hirschi, daughter of Carl Lutz,
President of the Carl Lutz Foundation Hungary
President of The March of the Living Foundation in Hungary,
Dr Robert Froehlich, Chief Rabbi of the Dohá Synagogue,
Dear Gests and Participants in the silent march along the Danube,

As war and devastation swept across Europe in the early 1940s, some courageous men and women resisted the barbarity. Carl Lutz was one of them, and I am delighted that the March of the Living has chosen this year to pay homage to this remarkable Swiss citizen.

When so many countries break laws in order to kill, perhaps there is one which will break them to save lives.

Following his death in 1975, Carl Lutz used this quip to justify having helped Jews in Hungary during the Second World War. The vice-consul arrived in Budapest at the beginning of 1942. Having loyally defended German interests in British Palestine, he represented the interests in Hungary of 14 countries in war. He used his influence with the Nazis to organise the emigration to Palestine of some 10,000 Jewish children and young people of different nationalities.

Once the Nazis took over Budapest in 1944 and began deporting Jews to the death camps, he aimed to save as many of them as possible. He created a large organisation with the aid of his wife Gertrud, delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross, other neutral diplomats, in particular the papal envoy Angelo Rotta and Raoul Wallenberg of Sweden, the Swiss plenipotentiary minister Maximilian Jaeger, chargé d'affaires Harald Feller and members of the Zionist resistance. He managed to convince Hitler’s proconsul and the Hungarian government that the 8 000 safe conduct passes allotted to the Swiss embassy should be valid for entire families and not just for individuals. He also obtained diplomatic immunity for 76 houses in Budapest so that some Jews could escape the ghetto. In this way, Carl Lutz helped 60,000 Jews to survive.

Like Peter Surava, Maurice Bavaud, Paul Grüninger, Gertrud Kurz, and Louis Häfliger, Carl Lutz was committed to the humanitarian path. He responded to the pleas of persecuted persons who had placed their hope in the neutrality of Switzerland during the darkest hours of the Second World War.

Dear participants in the March of the Living in Hungary,

By remembering we can help to drive away the darkness. We can learn to hope for a world of peace. Your silent march will go much further than the Carl Lutz quay, further than Budapest. It will help us to acknowledge and remember our painful past.

“Never again !” Such atrocities should never be repeated, either in Europe or in the rest of the world. Your silent march is a protest against sound and fury. It calls on us to join forces to eradicate the seeds of violence which exist in our societies. It calls on us to use all means available to us under international law and in democratic systems to combat extremism and exclusion.

“The more citizens who show civil courage, the fewer heroes we will need,” wrote the Italian author Franca Magnani. Your silent march encourages us all to become involved, day after day, and to show courage. Many thanks to all of you for coming here today.