Man Who Saved Rebbe from Nazi France Honored
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a posthumous award for 'constructive dissent' to Hiram (or Harry) Bingham IV. For over fifty years, the State Department resisted any attempt to honor Bingham. For them he was an insubordinate member of the US diplomatic service, a dangerous maverick who was eventually demoted. Now, after his death, he has been officially recognized as a hero.
Bingham came from an illustrious family. His father (upon whom the fictional character Indiana Jones was based) was the archeologist who unearthed the Inca City of Machu Picchu, Peru, in 1911. Harry entered the US diplomatic service and, in 1939, was posted to Marseilles, France as American Vice-Consul.
The US was neutral during the first two years of World War II and, not wishing to annoyMarshal Petain's puppet Vichy regime, President Roosevelt's government ordered its representatives in Marseilles not to grant visas to any Jews. Bingham found this policy immoral and, risking his career, did all in his power to undermine it.
In defiance of his bosses in Washington, he granted over 2,500 US visas to Jewish (and other) refugees, two of whom were the future Lubavitcher Rebbe and his wife.
Other recipients of his lifesaving kindness included the artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst, and the family of writer Thomas Mann.
He also sheltered Jews in his Marseilles home, and obtained forged identity papers to help Jews in their dangerous journeys across Europe. He worked with the French underground to smuggle Jews out of France into Francisco Franco's Spain, or across the Mediterranean, and even contributed to their expenses out of his own pocket. In 1941, Washington lost patience with him. He was sent to Argentina, where he later continued to annoy his superiors by reporting on the movements of Nazi war criminals.
Eventually, he was forced out of the American diplomatic service completely.
Bingham died almost penniless in 1988. Little was known of his extraordinary activities until his son found some letters in his belongings after his death. He has since been honored by many groups and organizations, including the United Nations and the State of Israel.
Bingham came from an illustrious family. His father (upon whom the fictional character Indiana Jones was based) was the archeologist who unearthed the Inca City of Machu Picchu, Peru, in 1911. Harry entered the US diplomatic service and, in 1939, was posted to Marseilles, France as American Vice-Consul.
The US was neutral during the first two years of World War II and, not wishing to annoyMarshal Petain's puppet Vichy regime, President Roosevelt's government ordered its representatives in Marseilles not to grant visas to any Jews. Bingham found this policy immoral and, risking his career, did all in his power to undermine it.
In defiance of his bosses in Washington, he granted over 2,500 US visas to Jewish (and other) refugees, two of whom were the future Lubavitcher Rebbe and his wife.
Other recipients of his lifesaving kindness included the artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst, and the family of writer Thomas Mann.
He also sheltered Jews in his Marseilles home, and obtained forged identity papers to help Jews in their dangerous journeys across Europe. He worked with the French underground to smuggle Jews out of France into Francisco Franco's Spain, or across the Mediterranean, and even contributed to their expenses out of his own pocket. In 1941, Washington lost patience with him. He was sent to Argentina, where he later continued to annoy his superiors by reporting on the movements of Nazi war criminals.
Eventually, he was forced out of the American diplomatic service completely.
Bingham died almost penniless in 1988. Little was known of his extraordinary activities until his son found some letters in his belongings after his death. He has since been honored by many groups and organizations, including the United Nations and the State of Israel.
6:39 PM in New Brunswick, NJ
Shabbat Ends 7:42 PM
Friday, 3 May 2024
Parashat