Elmhurst University lecture to commemorate Carl Lutz, who saved many lives during Holocaust

Elmhurst University is highlighting a man credited with saving tens of thousands of lives in the Holocaust.

Later this month, the university is holding a lecture on Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat who served in Hungary from 1942 until the end of World War II.

The Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, and Hungarian Jews were forced into ghettos, sent to death camps, and murdered outright, Elmhurst University said.

Lutz was horrified, and issued letters of protection to save tens of thousands of Jewish families, the university said. He also set up safe houses, and even pulled people out of line in death marches to concentration camps in Austria and Germany, the university said.

Lutz is credited with saving more than 62,000 Jews during the war. Historians say Lutz helped prevent half of the Jewish population of Budapest from being sent to Nazi concentration camps.

A week from Sunday, historian and writer Amy Lutz — no relation to Carl Lutz — will deliver a lecture on Carl Lutz's story. A Holocaust Service of Remembrance is also part of the program.

Amy Lutz worked for several years at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, the university said.

Her lecture will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 19, in the Founders Lounge at the Frick Center at Elmhurst University. Admission is free, but reservations are urged, the university said.