El Salvador and the Holocaust
An almost unknown chapter in the history of El Salvador

“Yet when, in the last years of the war, the deportation trains began to roll from Budapest to Auschwitz, the name of this republic was uttered by the Jews in Budapest with even greater hope than that of the Western Allies or of the advancing Russians. For out of the blue El Salvador has appeared to them, as its name implies, as “the savior”.”

Fragment of the article by Jon Kimche-Jewish Observer and Middle East Review, October 14th, 1955.

It all begins when the First Secretary of our Consulate in Geneva, Switzerland, George Mandel-Montello, a Rumanian Jew, suggests to the General Consul Colonel José Arturo Castellanos, that he studies the possibility of issuing certificates of Salvadorian nationality to Jews of different parts of Europe, in order to rescue them from Hitler’s oppressive claws. With the approval of the Government of El Salvador, certificates of nationality were massively issued, allowing the bearers to be under the protection of the International Red Cross. Our country became the only one to give certificates of nationality and not only travel passes, without reservations and cost. Thus, the “Salvadorians” formed the largest foreign community in Hungary. On the 4th of July 1944, the Government of El Salvador officially requested from the Swiss Government, that the Salvadorian in Hungary remain under the protection of the Swiss Consulate in Budapest. After the Swiss consent, the Salvadorian Foreign Minister, Julio Enrique Avila sent on July 22nd 1944 the following radiogram: “ your excellency mister pillet golaz, federal counselor, head of the federal political department, bern. we thank the generous deference accepting representation in hungary, which will be extended to salvadorian citizens that might be in that jurisdiction and their private interests. previously no other nation has exercised such representation. sincerely julio e avila minister of foreign relations of el salvador”.

The Salvadorian action has been recognized en various occasions by the Anti Defamation League of the United States, by the Jewish American Committee, by the Association of Visas for Life. On April 1999, the Municipality of Jerusalem honored the granddaughter of Colonel Castellanos, inaugurating the El Salvador Street in the neighborhood of Givat Mesua, and in September 2001, the El Salvador Square was inaugurated. On November 22nd, 1995 the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, in his letter to the Anti Defamation League, wrote: “ At the time in human history when too many people turned their heads and looked away, the Salvadoran government showed the world the power of compassion in the face of injustice. Their courage under during the Nazi occupation of Hungary, as demonstrated by three extraordinary Salvadoran diplomats, serves as an example of selflessness for us all. These heroes filled desperate lives with hope during a period of great darkness, and I am confident that their actions will remain an inspiration for generations to come.”


LINKS

History of El Salvador
Brief History of the Republic of El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador – History and Traditions
El Salvador at a glance
History of San Salvador
History of the Church in El Salvador
Our History
Numismatics

El Salvador and the Holocaust
El Salvador and the Schindler's list
Unknown hero saves thousands of Hungarian Jews
Dr. David Kranzler