Reign of Terror : The Budapest Memoirs of Valdemar Langlet 1944-?1945

This remarkable memoir tells the story of one of WWII's forgotten heroes. Valdemar Langlet was responsible for saving thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi death camps - blazing the trail for the now legendary Raoul Wallenberg and others who worked alongside him. In the early years of the war Hungary appeared to be the only oasis for Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. But, in March 1944 German forces invaded and so began their so-called 'Reign of Terror'. Jews were herded into ghettos, robbed of their property and forced to wear the notorious yellow star. Then came the horrifying round-ups, mass deportations and the death marches.Langlet, a Swedish Red Cross delegate working in Budapest, witnessed first hand the cruel persecution of the Jews and was appalled. Under the protection of the Red Cross, he set up a special unit that issued documentation allowing Jews a safe route out of the country, and set up safe houses throughout the city. Thousands of Hungarian Jews were saved from almost certain death as result. These memoirs, published in English for the first time, provide a fascinating eyewitness account of these harrowing events, and are a long-overdue tribute to Langlet and his brave colleagues The memoirs of a man who saved thousands from the Nazi death camps.Although not as well-known as Raoul Wallenberg, Valdemar Langlet was the savior of thousands of Jews in Budapest in the last two years of World War II.Entirely without the permission or the financial support of the Swedish Red Cross, he issued so-called “Letters of Protection,” which were passport-like documents with official-looking stamps that frequently saved Hungarian Jews from deportation to the death camps. Then chaos broke out in the streets and the Germans put their Arrow Cross allies in power. With the approaching Red Army threatening to turn the city into a battleground, Langlet risked his life to shelter Jews and other refugees in safe houses throughout Budapest.A gifted linguist, Langlet was able to deal directly with Hungarian officials, who were often themselves eager to have the protection of the Swedish Red Cross emblem on their own houses as the war drew closer to the capital. Later, he communicated with the Soviet commanders who took control after fierce fighting had destroyed much of Budapest.This is a unique and fascinating memoir of a man who saved thousands of lives during one of the most terrible episodes in world history without official authority or support from his own country.Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home. Memoirs of Langlet (1872-1960), a Swedish adventurer and journalist who saved the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of Jews in Budapest in 1944-45. He arrived in Budapest in 1931, and in 1938 was attached to the Swedish Legation as an unpaid cultural attaché. He became aware of widespread antisemitism in Hungary already before the German occupation. After the occupation in March 1944, Langlet, aided by his Russian-born wife Nina, worked frantically to rescue those who were persecuted, including Jews. Without the permission or financial support of the Swedish Red Cross, he issued "letters of protection" in its name (estimates vary greatly as to how many, from 2,000 to 25,000). These passport-like documents frequently saved Hungarian Jews from deportation. He also set up a large Red Cross network, run almost entirely by Jews, with hospitals, homes, and safe houses in the "international ghetto". He finally became an official delegate of the Red Cross in August 1944. In December, threatened by the Arrow Cross, Langlet stopped his activities and went underground. After the liberation, he returned to his Red Cross activities. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Although not as well known as Raoul Wallenberg, Valdemar Langlet was the saviour of thousands of Jews in Budapest in the last two years of the Second World War. Entirely without the permission or the financial support of the Swedish Red Cross, he issued socalled 'Letters of Protection', passport-like documents with official-looking stamps that frequently saved Hungarian Jews from deportation to the death camps. Then, when chaos broke out in the streets when the Germans put their Arrow Cross allies in power, and the approaching Red Army threatened to turn the city into a battleground, he risked his life to shelter Jews and other refugees in safe houses throughout Budapest. A gifted linguist, Langlet was able in the early days to deal directly with Hungarian officials, who were often themselves eager to have the protection of the Swedish Red Cross emblem on their own houses as the war drew closer to the capital, and later with the Soviet commanders who took control after fierce fighting had destroyed much of Budapest. This is a unique and fascinating memoir of a man who almost without any official authority or support from his own country saved thousands of lives during one of the most terrible episodes in world history In this WWII memoir, a Swedish émigré living in Budapest during the war recounts his efforts to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi death camps. An officer of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, Valdemar Langlet was in a unique position to help his Jewish friends and colleagues from the threat of fascist violence. But soon his life-saving work grew into an extensive network of safehouses and falsified documents. Without the permission of the Swedish Red Cross, Langlet issued so-called Letters of Protection—passport-like documents with official-looking stamps—that saved Hungarian Jews from the death camps. A gifted linguist, Langlet dealt directly with Hungarian officials, many of whom were eager to have the protection of the Swedish Red Cross emblem on their own houses as the Red Army drew closer to the capital. When the Germans put their Arrow Cross allies and chaos broke out in the streets, Langlet risked his life to shelter Jews and other refugees throughout Budapest. Foreword / by Monika and Pieter Langlet Introduction / by Sune Persson Prelude The First Act : The Deportation of the Jews The Second Act : The Swedish Red Cross Intermezzo The Third Act : Under the Arrow Cross The Fourth Act : The Hungarian Republic A Swedish Finale. Incredible memoir of one of the unsung heroes of WWII. First ever English translation. Reveals how thousands of Jews were saved from the Holocaust.