Page 54 of The Righteous

THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE seemed a bit less crowded than it had the last time Theresa visited.

Maybe homeless families had moved into some of the seventy-six safe houses that Gertrud had leased.

Now owned by Switzerland and identified with Swiss markings, they were beyond the reach of the Hungarian or German authorities.

The most recent acquisition was Arthur Weiss’s Glass House.

It was a well-known glass manufacturing facility that was shut down by the Nazis.

Arthur had since disappeared. Gertrud acquired it, and now it housed over two thousand residents at any given time.

It was busy. Still, even as of this date, there were many families living in the sanctuary of the synagogue.

Almost all of them wore yellow stars with the word Jude .

In fact, walking through the neighborhood, one might encounter dozens of pedestrians with the same star.

“Your father is in the clinic,” Rabbi Wise said, gesturing to the back corner of the room.

Theresa’s forehead wrinkled. “The clinic? Here? What clinic?”

“That would be the room formerly used as the assistant rabbi’s office. Now there is an examining bed and medical supplies. Your sister, Becca, takes leave from her nursing duties at Semmelweis University Hospital now and then to help your father out. There are a lot of sick kids.”

“We just came from a very important meeting at the Swiss embassy and we were advised to come here to talk to you and Apa,” Theresa said. “Did you hear about the Vrba-Wetzler report?”

The rabbi shrugged. “I know who Alfred Wetzler is. He’s not a member here, and I don’t know anything about his report.”

“Is my father available?” Theresa asked. “Can he take a break from his clinic? Can he join us? I’d prefer not to relay this story in pieces.”

“I’ll bring him to the study as soon as he is free,” Rabbi said.

Thirty minutes later, a weary Benjamin Weissbach, wearing a stained doctor’s gown, came into the study with Rabbi Wise.

He hugged his daughter and told her how much he missed spending time with her and how he wished the times were different.

“Still, it is heartwarming to see you, and you too, Julia. Rabbi tells me that you have something important to discuss.”

Theresa laid a copy of the Vrba-Wetzler report on the table. “You know that the Nazis have been gathering all of the Jewish citizens in the Hungarian countryside and putting them into trains to be shipped to the Auschwitz camp, don’t you?”

Both the rabbi and Benjamin nodded. “Samu has been telling us about it,” Rabbi Levy said.

“Most of the families living south of Budapest have been taken into custody and shipped north. The Nazis haven’t moved their operation into Budapest, and we are hopeful that they never will.

We don’t know why they are concentrating on the farmland.

Maybe it is just because they don’t trust Jews, and they can’t keep an eye on them when they are so spread out.

At least that is what Samu thinks. He warns us that it may happen here in Budapest soon, and if it does, just cooperate.

We’re on the lookout for the Nazis, you’d better believe it. ”

“You know it isn’t just the Nazis,” Julia said.

“They couldn’t do this on their own. They couldn’t herd a hundred thousand Jews into small towns and hold them until the trains take them north.

They need the help of the Hungarian soldiers.

And the Nazis don’t drive the trains. The Hungarians do.

This deadly operation couldn’t happen without the cooperation of the Hungarian leadership. ”

“I suppose that is correct,” Benjamin said. “Even so, Samu says that if we don’t cooperate, things will go very badly. If we do cooperate, then they won’t harm us.”

“He’s a liar,” Theresa said vehemently. “Over three hundred thousand Jews have been transported from Hungarian small towns to ghettos and then to the Auschwitz camp. What happens there is beyond your imagination. The prisoners are taken off the train, and… and… I’m sorry.

I can’t continue. It’s all in the report. Read it and then we’ll discuss it.”

Benjamin and Rabbi Wise sat turning the pages in the report. They were silent, but tears filled their eyes. “Who has seen this report?” Benjamin asked. “Is it valid?”

“The whole world has seen it. The whole damn world except the Nazi-occupied countries, although I’m sure that sooner or later it will find its way in.

I just hope there are Jews still alive when it does, and that steps are taken to save them.

Both Germany and Hungary have been condemned by Churchill, Roosevelt, the pope, religious leaders, and other government officials all over the world. ”

“Three hundred thousand Jews?” said the rabbi with a choke in his throat.

“Lovely innocent people whom I have married, and celebrated their bat and bar mitzvas. They have come to services, I have seen them smile and dance.” He shook his head.

“Why? Why are they now being put to death in the most inhumane way possible?”

“What do your authorities recommend?” Benjamin asked Julia. “What are we to do?”

“That is the same question we asked in the Netherlands,” Julia said, “and the answer was to save as many lives as you can. We can’t save them all.

We have already lost three hundred thousand, but maybe we can save the little boy you just doctored, and his family, and the families in this hall.

Their lives are all precious, and we must fight to save them. ”

“I understand. That has been my life’s profession. I have dedicated my life to saving people one at a time. How do I do that now?”

Theresa answered, “Number one: Encourage everyone to get a letter of protection. They are still being prepared, and they are being honored. Make sure they understand that they must declare themselves to be under the protection of Switzerland and exempt from Hungarian restrictions. The Nazis won’t question the validity. ”

“We’ve run out of Swiss letters of protection,” Benjamin said. “We passed them all out to families. We had six hundred, and they were given to six hundred families, which covered about twenty-eight hundred people.”

“That’s good. Then maybe we have saved twenty-eight hundred lives. We will soon have more letters,” Theresa said. “We hope to get them from Sweden and even El Salvador, and then we can save more.”

Tears rolled down Theresa’s cheeks. Benjamin went over and put his arms around her. He hugged her and told her how much he loved her and what a wonderful girl she was.

“But every day, twelve thousand more Hungarians are taken and put into a gas chamber because they’re Jewish.

Why, Apa? How can one human do this to another?

I know that the Nazis are cruel, soulless people, but why are Hungarians stepping up and joining them?

Why is Hungary turning against its own people, the ones they knew, the ones they grew up with and played with in the schoolyard?

Why is Miklós Horthy telling his military to help round up the people and transport them by trains?

I can’t understand why my fellow Hungarians want to kill me and my sister and my mother and… ” Theresa couldn’t finish.

The rabbi asked, “When we talked about what your superiors are suggesting for us, you said number one was the letters of protection issued by neutral countries. What is number two?”

Julia stepped forward. “Number two is to get out of Hungary whenever you get the chance. Everyone won’t get a letter. There just won’t be enough to go around, and who knows how long those letters will be honored? You need to get out of this godforsaken country.”

“That’s why you came here in the first place last winter, isn’t it, Terri? You came to take Anya and me out of Hungary before it reached this level. Isn’t that right?” Benjamin said. “But we didn’t listen.”

“Don’t blame yourself; it wasn’t like this six months ago. When Julia and I arrived, we were surprised at how calm Budapest was and how safe the community was. We were all fooled, just like you.”

“How are we supposed to get out of Hungary?” said the rabbi. “The borders are closed. Hungary is surrounded by Axis countries, none of which have many Jewish residents left. Our people are probably thinking the same thing.”

“You must believe there is a way. There are people that care about you—brilliant, honest, righteous people with goodness in their hearts. They are working on finding ways to save as many lives as they can.” Theresa counted them off on her fingers.

“Carl Lutz, his staff at the Swiss embassy, John Pehle and the War Refugee Board in Washington, Gisi Fleischmann and the Bratislava Working Group in Slovakia, the Jewish Council, Ira Hirschman, Ottó Komoly and the Aid and Rescue Committee, and so many more. Their combined efforts have saved and will save hundreds of thousands of people.”

“Ira Hirschman led eight thousand Jews out of Hungary, through Romania, down to Turkey, and then to Palestine. He did it because he sought and obtained permission from those countries. And don’t forget about Sweden. We are reaching out to Raoul, and he is a good man,” said Julia.

“I know that good people will come forward,” said the rabbi. “We just have to pray that it happens sooner rather than later for so many.”

Theresa nodded. “They will find a way.”

Julia checked her watch. “Right now, we have to return to the embassy. There is a phone call from a certain Swedish man, and we have to join the call.”

In the embassy’s first-floor communications room, telephone connections had been established between Budapest and Stockholm.

Julia, Theresa, Martin, and Carl stood together waiting for Raoul Wallenberg to come on the line.

It had all been arranged by the WRB. In fact, they had spent considerable time explaining the situation to the Swedish foreign ministry and the representatives of King Gustav V.

“This is Raoul Wallenberg,” said the voice on the line. To Julia, the sound was immediately recognizable, and her heart skipped a beat. It seemed like yesterday.

“Raoul, this is Swiss Vice Consul Carl Lutz. Thank you for placing the call this morning. We are given to understand that you have been in contact with John Pehle at the War Refugee Board in Washington.”

“I have, and I have been in lengthy discussions with our government, including King Gustav. I might add that King Gustav is very upset, having read the Vrba-Wetzler report. King Gustav spoke with Sir Winston Churchill earlier today.”

“All of us here in Budapest share your alarm,” Carl said.

“Something must be done to save the lives of the innocent people who are in harm’s way through no fault of their own.

As we speak, trains are leaving from Hungary carrying thousands of souls.

We welcome your assistance on behalf of the Kingdom of Sweden. ”

“It is my honor, and I appreciate the privilege of being allowed to participate. I hope to see you soon. I am making arrangements for the manufacture of Swedish Schutz-Passes right now. They will identify the holder as a Swedish citizen.”

“Wonderful. We look forward to you and your Schutz-Passes,” Carl said. “By the way, there are a couple of people here who would like to say hello, if that’s all right.”

“Sure. Who would that be?”

“Hi, Rudy,” said Julia, with a lump in her throat. “It’s been a long time.”

“Julie, is that you? I can’t believe it. What are you doing in Budapest? The last I heard, you were in Holland, but that was a few years ago.”

“I came here with Theresa to help her family. Now I am staying to help as many people as I can. We both work as administrative assistants to Carl at the Swiss embassy.”

From over Julia’s shoulder. a voice said, “Hi, Rudy, it’s Terri Weissbach.”

“Oh, my goodness, Terri. This is such a pleasant surprise. I can’t wait to see you both. I wish it were under different circumstances, but we’ll have a Wolverine reunion. I should get in over the weekend. I’ll be staying at Kálmán’s apartment. See you on the ninth.”