Hitler's Evil Averted in Budapest in WWII

During this holiday time it is inspiring to learn something new regarding the horrible aggression against the Jews during World War II and that sometimes the action of a few men is enough to thwart evil. Just as the West was resolute with the Nazi's of 60 years ago so the West must be resolute with Terrorist states defending a religion gone mad. We must be resolute to fight evil and call it like it is in order to save the good.

Reaching out with an act of courage (Pasadena Star News)
By Randy Jurado Ertll

DECEMBER 16 marks the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, where the Allied forces turned the tide against Hitler's evil forces in 1944.

Unfortunately, millions of Jews had already been murdered throughout Europe by then.
As we remember the valiant battle against Hitler, we also should note an amazing act of courage that has not received the attention it deserves: The government of El Salvador saved the lives of more than 40,000 Hungarian Jews that same year.

Working through its consular office in Geneva, Switzerland, the Salvadoran government came up with a creative plan. It decided to issue Salvadoran citizenship papers to Hungarian Jews who would otherwise have been sent to Nazi death camps.

The authors of this plan were Salvadoran Consul Colonel Jose Arturo Castellanos and First Secretary/Honorary Consul George Mantello, who was of Jewish ancestry.

Mantello, whose original name was Mandl, spoke no Spanish and never set foot in El Salvador. But he had assisted Castellanos in business, and Castellanos more than returned the favor.
He gave Mantello his honorary position at the embassy. Mantello used it to publicize Nazi atrocities and then came up with the idea of offering citizenship to Hungarian Jews.

Castellanos embraced Mantello's efforts, and Castellanos convinced the the Salvadoran government to give citizenship papers to Hungarian Jews. The Salvadoran government then formally asked the Swiss government to accept this agreement and to obtain approval from the Hungarian government, which it did.

In Budapest, tens of thousands of Hungarians Jews were able to obtain Salvadoran citizenship papers free of charge. These were crucial for escaping the Nazi concentration camps and certain death.

Thanks to Castellanos and Mantello, El Salvador was the only country that offered nationality rights to Hungarian Jews on a massive scale during World War II.

Castellanos and Mantello deserve to be remembered as heroes.

Let us follow their example by assisting those within our own country who face deportation or oppression.

Of course, immigrants in the United States facing deportation are not nearly in the same kind of situation that Jews were in during World War II.

But the example of reaching across nationalities and across religions to assist fellow human beings in need is one that we all can take to heart.

randyertll@yahoo.com
Randy Jurado Ertll is the executive director
of El Centro de Accion Social in Pasadena.