FACING THE HOLOCAUST IN BUDAPEST

COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX-ROUGE

Geneva, 3 September 1986

Dear Mr. Ben Tov,

The ICRC Reading Panel has perused the version of your work dated 30 August 1986. It examined the sources taken from the ICRC's archives and publications and found that they correspond to the documents you used as references.

As regards the interpretation of theses sources, the Reading Panel remains unconvinced on quite a number of points; on the basis of the same documents, the members of the Panel in many cases took a different view of the motives for the action of the ICRC and its staff in relation to the events described. Nevertheless the Reading Panel respects your academic freedom and has decided to authorize the publication of this version of your work.

Hoping that you will be happy to receive this news, I remain,

Mr. Arieh Ben-Tov 8, Daniel Frisch Str.

Tel-Aviv 64731 Israel

Sincerely yours,

Jacques Moreillon Director General

ARIEH BEN-TOV

FACING THE HOLOCAUST IN BUDAPEST

The International Committee of the Red Cross and

the Jews in Hungary, 1943-1945

SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA B.V.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Ben-Tov, Ar1eh, 1923-Faclng the Holocaust 1n Budapest : the Internat~onal CoNmittee of

the Red Cross and the Jews 1n Hungary, 1943-1945 1 Ar1eh Ben-Tov. p. cm. -- CSc1ent1flC collect1on of the Henry Dunant

Institute> Bibl1ography. p. Includes 1ndex. ISBN 9024737648 1. Jews--Hungary--Persecutlons. 2. Holocaust, Jew1sh C1939-1945l­

-Hungary. 3. Internat1onal Comm1ttee of the Red Cross. 4. World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--Hungary. 5. Hungary--Ethnlc relat1ons. I. T1tle. II. Ser1es. DS135.H9B38 1988 943.9"DD4924--dr.19 88-23212

CIP

ISBN 978-94-017-6865-8 ISBN 978-94-017-6935-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-6935-8

Typesct by POPLAR S.C., Brussels

Ali Rights Reserved

© 1988 by Spnnger Science+Business Med1a Dordrecht Origina11y published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1988

No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical

including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.

SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION OF THE HENRY DUNANT INSTITUTE

Pierre Boissier, HISTOIRE DU COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX­ROUGE. Tome I - de Solferino a Tsoushima, 1978.

HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS. Vol. I -From Solferino to Tsushima, 1985.

Gradimir Djurovic, L' AGENCE CENTRALE DE RECHERCHES DU CO MITE IN­TERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX-ROUGE, 1981.

THE CENTRAL TRACING AGENCY OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMIT­TEE OF THE RED CROSS, 1986.

Andre Durand, HISTOIRE DU CO MITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX­ROUGE. Tome II -de Sarajevo a Hiroshima, 1978.

HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS. Vol. II- From Sarajevo to Hiroshima, 1984.

Jean-Luc Hie bel, L' ASSISTANCE SPIRITUELLE DANS LES CONFLICTS AR­MES - Droits humains, 1979.

Frits Kalshoven, BELLIGERENT REPRISALS, 1971.

Peter Macalister-Smith, INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE: DISASTER RELIEF ACTIONS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW AND ORGANI­ZATION, 1985.

Jacques Meurant, LE SERVICE VOLONTAIRE DE LA CROIX-ROUGE DANS LA SOCIETE D'AUJOURD'HUI, 1984.

RED CROSS VOLUNTARY SERVICE IN TODAY'S SOCIETY, 1985.

Richard Perruchoud, LES RESOLUTIONS DES CONFERENCES INTERN A TIO­NALES DE LA CROIX-ROUGE, 1979.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES, 1982.

Jean Pictet, LES PRINCIPES FONDAMENTAUX DE LA CROIX-ROUGE -COMMENTAIRES, 1979.

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE RED CROSS - COMMENTA­RY, 1979.

LOS PRINCIPOS FUNDAMENT ALES DE LA CRUZ ROJA- COMENTARIO, 1979.

Esbjorn Rosenblad, INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT, Some aspects of the principle of distinction and related problems, 1979.

Philip Selby, HEALTH IN 1980-1990. A predictive study based on an international inquiry.

Jirl Toman, INDEX OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS FOR THE PROTEC­TION OF WAR VICTIMS OF 12 AUGUST 1949, 1973.

Michel Veuthey, GUERILLA ET DROIT HUMANITAIRE, 1976.

In memory of my parents

Itzhak-Tuvia and Frieda-Leah Hassenberg

and my brothers and sisters

Sal a Shlamek

Srulek Frumcia

Luniah

who were murdered by the Nazis during the

Second World War in Auschwitz

concentration camp.

This work was carried out under the guidance of Professor Saul Friedlaender.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

List of abbreviations

Introduction

I Historical Perspective: 1918-45

II The International Committee of the Red Cross

III The Legal Framework of ICRC Activities

IV The Problems ofthe ICRC in Hungary: 1941-43

v The de Bavier Period

VI A New Delegate, A New Approach

VII The Activities in July 1944

VIII The Thaw?

IX The Fascist Subversion

X On the Threshold of Liberation

XI The Battle for Budapest

Conclusion

xi

xiii

1

7

25

35

61

93

139

171

209

255

299

335

385

xii

ANNEXES

1 ICRC statutes, 1930 version, As in Force During the Second World War 393

2 Members of the I CRC from 1942-44 397

3 Sztojay Appeals to Hungarians in the USA 399

4 Open letter to the Swiss Confederation 403

5 Born Note 645 to the ICRC, Geneva 405

6 Max Huber: The Concept of Civilian Internees 409

7 Extract from the Riegner/Dworzecki interview 13 July 1972 415

8 From the report of Veesenmayer 1944 417

9 List of Losses 423

Endnotes 425

Bibliography 475

Index 489

xiii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply grateful to Professor FriedHinder,for his support and guidance, which enabled me to realize my long-cherished but initially rather vague project of a work on the fate of Europe's Jews in the Second World War. It was Professor FriedHi.nder's invaluable help which enabled me to choose a precise subject from the vast field of the Holocaust, and to gain sufficient insight into the techniques of historical research to do it some measure of justice.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which gave me free access to its archives on its activities concerning the Jews in Hungary during the Second World War. In particular, I would like to mention ICRC I2.irector General Jacques Moreillon, who gave me every assistance with regard to working facilities at the ICRC.

I am also indebted to the ICRC employees who provided me with technical help in my research: Mrs Catherine Rey-Schyrr and Mrs Dominique Junod, historical researchers, Mr Jeff Barnes, translator, and Mrs Floriane Pariat and Miss Isabelle Muller, secretaries.

My thanks go also to Mr Jean Pictet, Hon. Vice-President of the ICRC, and Professor of International Humanitarian Law, who was secretary to the P~esident of the ICRC during the Second World War. Professor Pictet gave me much useful information in the course of interviews throughout my period of research.

xiv

Mr Hans Bachmann, who was head of the ICRC's Relief Division during the war, was always prepared to discuss events of that time with me.

Many thanks for important suggestions and encouragement are due to Professor Jacques Freymond, former Director of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, who gave me most useful guidance and insight.

I am deeply indebted to Dr Gerhart Riegner, Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Geneva until 1983, now Co­Chairman of the WJC Governing Board. Dr Riegner put the entire archives of the WJC at my disposal, and without his freely given counsel I would hardly have made any progress with my research.

My deep appreciation goes to Dr Daniel Bourgeois of the Swiss Federal Archives in Bern, who gave me prompt and expert help in tracing useful material, and offered much encouragement.

My thanks go also to Dr Stephen J. Roth and Dr Elizabeth Eppler of the Institute of Jewish Affairs of the World Jewish Congress in London, who put the archives of the Institute at my disposal.

I am very grateful to Dr h.c. Willy Bretcher, former editor of the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, who helped me to understand important aspects of Swiss politics during the Second World War and the relationship between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss federal government.

Many thanks to Mr Alec Plaut in Geneva who encouraged me in my research, and gave me useful advice.

To Dr Klaus Urner, Director of the Archives of the Institute for Contemporary History in Zurich, I am indebted for his interest and his help in obtaining material and putting me in contact with people who were involved in events during the period in question.

The staff of the World Jewish Congress offices in New York and the National Archives at the Hyde Park Library New York have my gratitude for their help in obtaining documents on the contacts between the ICRC and their institutions in America.

I am very grateful to my secretary, Mrs Lili Jaron, for her patient and invaluable help.

Above all, I wish to thank my wife Aviva for her unwavering support for a research effort that frequently disrupted the normal

XV

course of home life. Without her understanding, the work would never have been finished.

Arieh Ben-Tov September 1987, Tel Aviv

AA

AJDC

CID

CICR

DAS

FAB

FPD

ICRC

IRC

IUCW

NA

PIC

RICR

RLB

UNRRA

wee

WJC

WRB

ABBREVIATIONS

Auswartiges Amt

American Joint Distribution Committee

Civils Internes Divers

Comite international de la Croix-Rouge

Division d'Assistance Speciale

Federal Archives Berne

Federal Political Department

International Committee of the Red Cross

International Red Cross

International Union for Child Welfare

National Archives, Washington

Prisonniers et Internes Civils

Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge

Randolph L. Braham

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration

World Council of Churches

World Jewish Congress

War Refugee Board

xvii