Throughout his life, Swiss Consul Carl Lutz, CCAS BA ‘24, inspired many with his actions. Now, his life has inspired Hollywood.
Nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize and named Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem, Lutz launched the largest rescue operation of the Second World War and is credited with saving 62,000 Jews from Nazi death camps.
Lutz will be portrayed in an upcoming film by Hollywood’s Liberty Studios, Walking with the Enemy. The film features the story of Elek Cohen, who was a member of a secret ring protecting Hungarian Jews during the Holocuast. Cohen was protected by Lutz, who was serving in the Department of Emigration of the Swiss Embassay in Budapest. Lutz helped obtain permits for Hungarian Jews to immigrate to Israel, before and after the German invasion in 1944.
The film stars Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley and Jonas Armstrong, and is directed by Mark Schmidt. Lutz is played by Canadian-born actor William Hope, who was previously featured in James Cameron’s “Alien” and “The Saint” with Val Kilmer.
Born in Walzenhausen, Switzerland, Lutz served 20 years in various Swiss posts in the United States before receiving assignments in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He graduated from GW in 1924 after studying history and law.
In Los Angeles, a tree will be dedicated to Lutz, who passed away in 1975, in the Garden of the Righteous of the Holocaust Museum.
For more information about Lutz’s life and the film, visit the Carl Lutz Foundation on Facebook.
Watch the trailer!
