Berni követségi iratai

Ferenc Nagy, ed. Külügyminisztérium levéltára. Vols 2. Budapest. MOL, 2003. As a neutral country in the Second World War, Switzerland played a controversial role due to its relation to Nazi Germany and its stance toward the Holocaust in particular. However, Switzerland belatedly acquired an important role during the Holocaust in Hungary in 1944 through its diplomatic activities, including the rescue activities led by Swiss Ambassador Carl Lutz in Budapest, and its press campaign publicizing the ongoing genocide against Hungarian Jewry. The collection of materials from the Hungarian Embassy in Bern, Switzerland includes miscellaneous documents. It contains information on the Swiss policy towards foreigners and the concrete measures adopted to control them, including the operation of refugee camps. More concretely, there are documents on Hungarian citizens residing in Switzerland and Hungarian Jewish migration to Switzerland as well as on the internment of Hungarian citizens as well as references to their deportation by Nazi Germany. The collection also contains official reports on Swiss internal affairs, foreign policy and policy towards the ongoing war with references to the pressure the Axis powers exerted on the country. There are also Hungarian ambassadorial reports on the Swiss press and public opinion that also tackle questions of censorship. There are also specific reports on the Swiss discussion of Hungary and more specifically of the Swiss press coverage of the “Jewish question”, i.e. the Holocaust in Hungary. Last but not least, there are letters from Ambassadorial Secretary Imre Tahy that were sent to Hungary in the summer months of 1944, i.e. during the mass deportations from the countryside and their eventual halting in early July. Many of Tahy's letters were directly addressed to Prime Minister Döme Sztójay.