Reign of Terror
The Budapest Memoirs of Valdemar Langlet 1944–1945
Nonfiction, History, Jewish, Holocaust, Biography & Memoir
| Author: | Valdemar Langlet | ISBN: | 9781510701946 |
| Publisher: | Skyhorse Publishing | Publication: | September 22, 2015 |
| Imprint: | Skyhorse Publishing | Language: | English |
| Author: | Valdemar Langlet |
| ISBN: | 9781510701946 |
| Publisher: | Skyhorse Publishing |
| Publication: | September 22, 2015 |
| Imprint: | Skyhorse Publishing |
| Language: | English |
The astonishing true story of a Swede in Hungary who stood up to Nazis and saved thousands from the Holocaust.
Although the honors awarded Raoul Wallenberg are well deserved, he is only one of the many brave individuals—most of whom remain forgotten by history—who saved thousands of Jews in Budapest during World War II. Among those unsung heroes is another Swede, Valdemar Langlet, the first man to create the covert cover of the “protective passport.”
Entirely without permission or financial support from the Swedish Red Cross, Langlet, a gifted linguist who was able to deal directly with Hungarian officials, issued so-called “letters of protection”—imitation passports with official-looking stamps that prevented Hungarian Jews from deportation to the death camps. But when the Germans put their Arrow Cross allies in power, and the approaching Red Army threatened to turn the city into a battleground, Langlet went further—risking his life to find placement for refugees in a range of apartments, castles, countryside estates, convents, and other safe houses throughout Budapest. First by the hundreds, then the thousands.
This is the enthralling memoir of a man who took a stand during one of the most terrible episodes in world history, facing not only the dangers of Nazi forces, but also the punishment and rancor of his own country.
The astonishing true story of a Swede in Hungary who stood up to Nazis and saved thousands from the Holocaust.
Although the honors awarded Raoul Wallenberg are well deserved, he is only one of the many brave individuals—most of whom remain forgotten by history—who saved thousands of Jews in Budapest during World War II. Among those unsung heroes is another Swede, Valdemar Langlet, the first man to create the covert cover of the “protective passport.”
Entirely without permission or financial support from the Swedish Red Cross, Langlet, a gifted linguist who was able to deal directly with Hungarian officials, issued so-called “letters of protection”—imitation passports with official-looking stamps that prevented Hungarian Jews from deportation to the death camps. But when the Germans put their Arrow Cross allies in power, and the approaching Red Army threatened to turn the city into a battleground, Langlet went further—risking his life to find placement for refugees in a range of apartments, castles, countryside estates, convents, and other safe houses throughout Budapest. First by the hundreds, then the thousands.
This is the enthralling memoir of a man who took a stand during one of the most terrible episodes in world history, facing not only the dangers of Nazi forces, but also the punishment and rancor of his own country.
