NEWS & LETTERS
March 2009: The March
2009 issue of the SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE features Harry Bingham with
an eight-page article titled "Bingham's List" starting at page 50
(the first page of the article is reproduced below). The complete
article can be read here.
September 26, 2007: LETTER TO THE EDITOR of Yale Alumni Magazine Dear Editor: I read with both interest and disappointment Judith Ann Schiff's article in the September/October, 2007 issue of the Yale Alumni Magazine ,
“Yale on Stamps”: interest because I was for eight years involved with
the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postage Service in a
stamp petition; disappointment because the subject of that petition, my
father, Hiram Bingham IV (Yale '25), who was honored in the spring of
2006 with a U.S. postage stamp, was not among those cited by Ms. Schiff.
This omission is particularly surprising, first
because the story behind Bingham's being recognized by the USPS was
highlighted in YAM 's May/June, 2006 issue (“Civil
Disobedience”); second because his heroic deeds are riveting in and of
themselves, and do great credit to his alma mater, to which he remained
loyal throughout his life. On May 30, 2006, the USPS
hosted a first-day-of-issue ceremony at the Washington Convention
Center, for a block of stamps entitled “Distinguished American
Diplomats,” depicting six notable American envoys, my father among them
(see attached US Postage stamp depicting Hiram Bingham IV). There
was, however, a major difference between Hiram Bingham IV and the other
five. While the latter had been recognized for their accomplishments
during their lifetimes, “Harry” Bingham's saving actions as vice-consul
in Marseilles from 1940-1941 – when southern France was a Nazi puppet
regime – were only belatedly acknowledged years after his death in 1988.
First the Yad Vashem and Holocaust Museums , then the U.S. State
Department, finally the USPS, honored this quiet hero for his rescue of
many hundreds
if not thousands of Jews and other refugees fleeing the Nazi
death machine. In defiance of restrictive U.S. State Department
immigration policies (the U.S. had not yet entered the war), Bingham
wrote innumerable life-saving visas, offering his fellow human beings a
chance to live that would otherwise have been denied them. For his
disobedience he was reassigned out of Europe to Buenos Aires (where he
further jeopardized his career by challenging the State Department's
apparent indifference to Argentina's harboring of Nazi war criminals),
and his career was held back. Following the successful conclusion of my stamp drive, I wrote a book about my father's unsung heroism, Courageous Dissent: How Harry Bingham Defied His Government to Save Lives , which can be ordered through Triune Books, Greenwich , CT at rbingham03@snet.net . Certainly Harry Bingham was a man of whom his country and his college should be proud. Sincerely,
Robert Kim Bingham (Yale '65)
26 March 2007 PRESS RELEASE To Friends of Harry Bingham, History Professors, Museums, Libraries, and ReviewersRe:
Exciting new book: COURAGEOUS DISSENT: How Harry Bingham Defied His Government to Save Lives by Robert Kim Bingham. I'm pleased to announce that my book COURAGEOUS DISSENT : How Harry Bingham Defied His Government to Save Lives, is available at Triune Books, Greenwich, CT (email: rbingham03@snet.net).
This true story about America's unsung WWII diplomat rescuer reveals
how American Foreign Service officer Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV defied
State Department policy by running an underground railroad from his
villa in Marseilles, France and rescuing as many refugees from the Nazis
as he could while stationed as a U.S. vice consul during the early days
of the Holocaust in 1940-41. He helped rescue artist Marc Chagall,
author Thomas Mann's family and other luminaries, and many ordinary
refugees. In June 2002, the State Department posthumously granted Harry
Bingham the "Constructive Dissent" award, and in the fall of 2006 he
received the ADL's "Courage to Care" award and was designated by the
Episcopal Church as an "American Saint."
I'm also grateful to those who participated in the successful
commemorative stamp campaign which resulted in the issuance of the Hiram
Bingham IV "Distinguished American Diplomat" postage stamp by the U.S.
Postal Service on May 30, 2006.
To order: You may purchase the book COURAGEOUS DISSENT by emailing the author at rbingham03@snet.net
(provide your mailing address, phone number, and how many books you'd
like). Price is $22 plus $4 shipping, or $26. I hope this book inspires
you, your students, and other readers.
Sincerely,
Robert Kim Bingham
Author of COURAGEOUS DISSENT and son of Hiram Bingham IV
& Webmaster at http://pages.cthome.net/WWIIHERO/
NOVEMBER 21, 2006. Hiram Bingham IV has received two new honors: On
October 27, 2006, he was posthumously presented the Anti-Defamation
League's 2006 "Courage to Care" award (previous recipients include Oskar
Schindler, Chiune Sugihara, and "The People of Denmark"). It was a
very moving event in Atlanta.In November 2006, the
Episcopal Church added Hiram Bingham IV to its roster of "American
Saints," with a beautifully crafted summation of his life and character
in the newly-published book, A Year with American Saints , on pp 200 - 202.
May 14, 2006: YALE Alumni Magazine conducts
Q&A with Robert Kim Bingham regarding new stamp for Hiram Bingham
IV. This interview appears in the May/June 2006 issue.
October 18, 2005
PRESS RELEASE
HIRAM BINGHAM IV STAMP UPDATE To: Area residents and HBIV stamp supporters
I previously reported that the Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV stamp drive has
been a success: On August 3, 2005, the US Postal Service (USPS)
sent me a message that the postmaster general approved the 2006 stamp
program and that, next year, Bingham will have a stamp of his own as
part of a series of six "Distinguished American Diplomats" being honored
by commemorative stamps. CBS News also reported on Aug. 5, 2005 that
"Six professional diplomats, chosen on the advice of the American Foreign Service Association ,
will be featured in a six-stamp 'souvenir sheet'. They are Hiram
Bingham IV, who saved many French Jews from the Holocaust; Francis W.
Willis, the first woman U.S. Ambassador; Charles Eustis Bohlen, a
specialist in Soviet affairs who served as the Russian translator for
Presidents Roosevelt and Truman at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam
conferences during World War II; Robert D. Murphy, a top aide to
President Roosevelt during World War II and later as Ambassador to
Belgium and Japan; Clifton R. Wharton, the first black U.S. Ambassador;
and Philip C. Habib, who held top posts in the State Department and was
called out of retirement by President Reagan in 1981 to prevent war in
the Middle East. Diplomats is one of four issues coming out during
the major international stamp show in Washington next year."
I expect that the USPS will officially announce the
2006 program within 30 days, when the image of Bingham's stamp will be
published.Regarding a celebration, the
first-day-of-issue ceremony for the "Distinguished American Diplomats"
series is tentatively planned for May 30, 2006 at the new Washington
Convention Center, 12 noon. It will be open to the public.
There will also be many family members there for the other five
"distinguished American diplomats" being honored. This USPS
ceremony should be an exciting diplomatic occasion, with a designated
post office on site, to permit stamp collectors to buy elegant first-day
covers, sheets of selected stamps, and get first-day-of-issue
cancellation marks on envelopes and items mailed, et al. For further developments, readers may check my website under the "NEWS" link at http://pages.cthome.net/WWIIHERO/
as well as the "Washington 2006" world philatelic exhibition webpage,
to verify the convention center's "schedule of activities and events" at
http://www.washington-2006.org/wschedule.htm. Thanks a million for your support during the six-year-long stamp drive.
Robert Kim Bingham
HBIV Stamp-drive coordinator and webmaster.
9/6/05: The US
Postal Service advised the following: "The stamps will be issued
in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 30, 2006, at an international stamp
show. There will be an official first day of issue ceremony
planned by the Postal Service, and it will be open to the public. http://www.washington-2006.org/" (Italics added.) -- Robert Kim Bingham
Article Provided by |
|
The Day , August 19, 2005Honoring a 'Righteous Gentile': Hiram Bingham IV commemorative stamp planned for next year By DAVID BRENSILVER
Published on 8/19/2005 Next year, when the U.S.
Postal Service honors the late Hiram Bingham IV with a commemorative
stamp, it will be celebrating the humanitarian efforts of a so-called
righteous gentile who was personally responsible for saving the lives of
thousands of Jews during World War II. It will also be celebrating an American diplomat who defied U.S. State Department policy in order to do so. "The
behavior of the United States State Department during the Nazi era, in
so far as Jewish refugees are concerned, was abhorrent," Rabbi Abraham
Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles
, said in a phone interview last week. Cooper talked
about the State Department's "strict immigration policy" that was in
place when Bingham was vice consul, in Marseilles , France . "You
needed to have someone in the pipeline who would be a mensch, who would
bend the rules and sometimes break the rules" in order to get out of
Europe , Cooper said. Bingham, of Salem , was that
someone. As vice consul from 1939 to 1941, "He issued as many visas as
he could, in defiance of the State Department policy," said Salem
resident Robert Kim Bingham, one of the diplomat's 11 children. Robert Bingham has been campaigning for his father's commemorative stamp for seven years. He
described his father, who died in 1988, as being a "representative of
the United States government, serving abroad, doing the right thing." Cooper said there were two wars going on at the time: World War II, and a war against Jews. "The
State Department did not want to connect the dots," Cooper said. As
information became available about the Jews, he added, individual
diplomats were motivated to action, though U.S. immigration policy
didn't change until 1944. Bingham was reassigned in 1941, and, four years later, resigned. "There was no one who came back to a pat on the back," Cooper said of Bingham and other "righteous gentiles." Cooper added that it took the State Department a "full generation" to realize that, in Bingham, it had a "gem." Rabbi
Aaron Rosenberg, of Temple Emanu-El in Waterford , said, "I think he
was a true hero, and he certainly deserves credit for what he did." U.S.
Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Stonington, is also glad to see the stamp campaign
come to fruition. This past spring, Simmons said he visited Yad Vashem,
The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, in Jerusalem .
"I am very glad to hear that the Postal Service has approved this request," Simmons said. Robert Bingham, along with brothers David and William, visited Yad Vashem seven years ago. "The
source of this inspiration for this stamp drive, for me, was basically
the tour of Israel I took in '98," he said. At Yad Vashem, Robert
Bingham heard survivors' stories that were the "unyielding source of
inspiration for the stamp drive," he said. "It's thrilling to know that the postmaster general has finally approved the stamp," he added. Mark Saunders of the Postal Service's community relations office put the honor in some perspective. "You're literally immortalized on a postage stamp. That's an incredible honor," Saunders said. Cooper
said he hopes Bingham can be a role model for younger generations, a
reminder that "whatever our station, we need to take moral
responsibility for our actions."
"Bingham was motivated by the real values of
what American life was meant to be," he said. "He was a very special
American, a great human being."
|
8/10/05. LETTER RECEIVED FROM ERIC SAUL - VISAS FOR LIFE PROGRAM - RE STAMP DRIVE OUTCOME
Dear Kim,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
I am so pleased and happy for all of your incredible work and organization to make this a reality.
I read the great article in the New London Day, and was
just as happy as I could be. Your father is finally recognized,
after more than 60 years, for his incredible and heroic rescue efforts
on behalf of refugees in southern France. I am sure that he is
very proud of you and the whole family.
I also noted that your stamp drive stimulated the Postal
Service to honor other diplomats in the US foreign service. This
is another great tribute to your work.
Please let me know when they have the stamp unveiling or
any other ceremony. I would be pleased and proud to attend any
event that the US Postal Service will be holding. We will proudly
display your father's postage stamp in all of our upcoming Visas for
Life exhibitions ...
Again, congratulations. Three cheers for your father and the Bingham family!
In deepest respect,
Eric
8/5/05.
The Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV stamp drive has achieved success! This
past week I received word from the USPS that the postmaster general
approved the stamp for the 2006 stamp program. Next year, Harry will be
included in a series of six "Distinguished American Diplomats," each of
whom will be portrayed on his or her own stamp. See 8/5/05 on-line CBS
news item at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/05/national/main759858.shtml
for the names of the six honored diplomats. The official USPS public
announcement typically is in the fall of the year preceding issuance of
stamps (i.e. next October or November 2005). My
memorable "Visas for Life" tour of Israel in 1998, during which our
group heard poignant first-hand accounts from survivors of Hitler's
wrath, has been an unyielding source of inspiration for the stamp drive.
I'm grateful to supporters of the campaign for your incredibly broad
bipartisan support that led to this deserved outcome. I understand
the US postal service plans to issue the stamp around Memorial Day 2006.
I'll keep this webpage posted. Thanks a million!
s/ Robert Kim Bingham, HBIV Stamp drive coordinator and webmaster, Sixth child of Harry's eleven children.
The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
Jerusalem, 7 March, 2005
Dear Mrs. Bingham-Endicott,
The Commission for the Designation of the Righteous, after examining all
the elements in this interesting case, wishes to express its
appreciation for the behavior of your late father, Hiram Bingham IV, in
facilitating the emigration of Jewish persons from France, during
1940-41, when your father served in the U.S. consulate in Marseilles.
The Commission was impressed by your father's positive and friendly
disposition to all who approached him for obtaining visas to the USA,
and especially to Mr. Varian Fry, and for his efforts to obtain these
visas through diplomatic channels. This included facilitating the exit
of Mr. Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife from France, after a visa was
received for them through the intervention of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt,
wife of the President.
Yad Vashem wishes to express its thanks for the humanitarian disposition
of your father at a time of persecution of Jews by the Vichy regime in
France. Hiram Bingham's assistance in this regard stands out by
contrast to certain other officials who rather acted suspiciously toward
Jewish refugees wishing to enter the United States. Please be
assured that your father's positive behavior, which has been richly
documented, will remain inscribed in our archives for the benefit of
future generations.
With best wishes to you and to the other members of the Bingham family.
Sincerely yours,
s/ ...Yad Vashem
File #10404 P.O.B. 3477, JERUSALEM 91034
TEL. 02-6443400 FAX. 02-6443443 02-6443443
www.yadvashem.org
|
5/24/04. A notice
received from Dili, East Timor: "In Dili's Cathedral on June 17th a
mass is scheduled that will be celebrated all over the world ... as part
of the world wide celebrations in honor of the Portuguese diplomat
Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the American diplomat Hiram Bingham [IV] is
also being honored."
4/17/04. Catholic
University awards its highest medal to HB IV. On April 17, 2004,
just before the start of a dramatic concert entitled "Defiant Requiem -
Verdi at Terezin", the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, President of the
Catholic University of America, awarded the CUA President's Medal to
Harry, accepted by his daughter Abigail. In his remarks to a full
concert hall, President O'Connell stated that "Hiram Bingham IV chose
principle over expediency and humanity over political calculation.
He displayed courage in defiance of evil. For these reasons, the
Catholic University of America is proud to confer posthumously upon him
its highest honor, the President's Medal."
1/24/04. Letter from
USPS: 'You will be pleased to know that the nomination of Hiram
Bingham IV is currently under consideration by the Citizen's Stamp
Advisory Committee as a future stamp issuance.' Terrance W.
McCaffrey, Manager, Stamp Development.
10/29/03 US Capitol
exhibit. A week-long "Visas for Life" exhibit opened in
Washington, DC on October 29, 2003 in the Senate Russell Building
Rotunda, which featured enlarged photographs of approximately 30 WWII
"righteous diplomats" being honored from around the world, including
Hiram Bingham IV.
5/7/03 US Senator
Frank R. Lautenberg writes to Postmaster General: "The Hiram Bingham
stamp is currently under consideration
by the Citizens' stamp Advisory Committee. I urge you to
quickly approve this commemorative stamp in conjunction with
the 100th anniversary of Mr. Bingham's birth [2003]."
5/7/03 See
well-written article about Harry in Cleveland by Stewart Hoicowitz at:
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/display/inn_features/profile/zsun0425.txt
2/26/03 US Postal
Service wrote: "The proposal for a Hiram Bingham IV commemorative stamp
has been reviewed by the Committee
and it remains under consideration as a possible future
stamp issuance....Currently, stamps for 2005 and subsequent years
are being considered." Deborah D. Leifer, Mgr. Government
Relations
1/27/03 US Postal Service wrote that it will "share" RKB'S request with Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to RECONSIDER
the decision not to include the HBIV stamp in the 2003 lineup.
11/6/02 Last day
of "Visas for Life" exhibit at Boston Univ.; Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe,
praised the exhibit in an Op/Ed
10/20/02. Sponsor: Terri Hootstein, Director of Development,
Greater Boston Chapter, American Jewish Committee at hootsteint@ajc.org
10/3/02
Connecticut Congressmen Rob Simmons and Chris Shays and 17 other U.S.
Representatives send a letter to the national
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee in strong support of the
stamp, together with a copy of a pending House Joint Resolution
recommending issuance of the Hiram Bingham IV stamp.
7/17/02 Governor Rowland designates July 17, Harry's birthday, as Hiram Bingham IV Day in Connecticut.
6/27/02 Colin Powell gives posthumous award to Harry at State Department ceremony. Amb. Thomas Pickering also praises
Harry.
5/16/02 Congressman Rob Simmons wrote a "Dear Colleague" letter for House members to sign, urging the Postmaster General
to issue the HBIV stamp in 2003. Please urge your Representative to sign today!
5/9/02 U.S. Senator Lieberman again wrote: "I strongly support the Hiram Bingham IV stamp proposal...I wish you success
in this continued effort."
4/2/02 The U. S.
Postal Service wrote: "The nomination of a stamp honoring Hiram Bingham
IV remains under consideration
by the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee....Currently, the
stamp program for 2003 is closed, and stamps for 2004 and
subsequent years are being considered." Kimberly A. Weaver,
Mgr., Government Relations
4/14/02 There was
a Visas for Life Exhibit on April 14, 2002 at the London Jewish
Community Center, where Harry's story
was "emphasized" (per Dr. Eric Saul). In 2002, there will be
other "righteous diplomat" exhibits at Princeton, Boston
Univ., and San Antonio.
1/22/02 The
President of the American Foreign Service Asso, John K. Naland, wrote
Harry's family that "the Governing
Board of the American Foreign Service Association has voted
to give a special posthumous award to our colleague and your
late father, Hiram 'Harry' Bingham IV" at the State
Department ceremony in Washington, DC on June 27, 2002. Harry was
featured on the cover of the FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL June 2002
issue.
9/27/01 LA TIMES: "It turns out that Hiram Bingham IV hadn't failed in life at all. In fact, he was a hero who succeeded
admirably at his chosen career: secretly saving lives, as a vice consul in Marseilles."
8/7/01: U.S. Senator Joseph
Lieberman wrote: "On July 12th I wrote a note to the Postmaster General
... calling his
attention to the Hiram Bingham IV commemorative stamp
proposal. I received the enclosed response, which states that the
suggestion remains under consideration ..."
8/2/01: Harry's oldest daughter, Tiffany, wrote from Maine: "A fine article especially honoring Dad and supporting proposal
for a Bingham stamp appeared in 7/31 Bangor Daily News on OpEd page."
8/28/01: Editorial in Washington Post urges Secretary of State Colin Powell to support Bingham stamp proposal. To view
the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/A63679-2001Jul27.html
8/19/01: U.S. Senator Lieberman's office advised that the Hiram Bingham IV stamp was (again) "on the agenda" of the Citizen's
Stamp Advisory Committee mtg 7/18 - 7/19!
6/5/01: Letter to
OUR TOWN-SALEM: "The Harry Bingham family received news that the State
of Israel will mint a bronze
medal in Harry's honor . . . Our family extends heartfelt
thanks to the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, and
Eric Saul, "Visas for Life" Curator, Simon Weisanthal Center,
Los Angeles for sponsoring the coin...." s/Robert Kim Bingham"
5/28/01:
Historian's quote: "Bingham was the only State Department official
anywhere in Europe who gave Jews emergency
visas." Blanche Cook "Varian Fry. A Hero for Our Time."
Blanche Wiesen Cook is Distinguished Professor of History at the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate
Center. Culturefront on Line. Vol 7 #2.
5/1/01: There was
an exhibit of the WWII "righteous diplomats" at the Museum of American
Politics, Joseloff Gallery,
University of Hartford, Connecticut, which is a world
traveling exhibit that has been to NY, Washington, DC, San Francisco,
Europe and Japan ... to 110 sites so far. It was open from
May 1 thru June 13, 2001, and received significant publicity
in the Hartford Courant and a wonderful community response.
Source: Ms. Zina Davis, Director, Joseloff Gallery, University
of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue West Hartford, CT 06117
3/22/01: U.S.
Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, "introduced legislation Wednesday
recommending the [Hiram Bingham IV]
stamp. ... Simmons and [State] Rep. Linda Orange,
D-Colchester, previously gained unanimous endorsement from the state
Legislature
to support a petition to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory
Committee ... 'It's been a tremendous bipartisan effort, and I hope
it will prevail, ... Those interested in supporting the
stamp proposal can search for Hiram Bingham on the Yahoo! search
engine to learn how. ... Simmons hopes to gain the same
overwhelming [bipartisan] support in Congress.' Norwich Bulletin
4/12/01: The History Channel again aired the
hour-long "Diplomats for the Damned" program featuring HBIV and 3 other
"righteous diplomats," as part of the channel's Classroom
Study Program. The video of that show is available for order
(along with a nice writeup) at the following link:
http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=43053
The History Channel will air the show again on 31 January 2005.
Thursday, June 03, 2004. Letter from Hartford Courant writer Lucretia Bingham (Harry's niece) to "Abby" (Harry's daughter):
Dear Abby,
Fools can twist the words of wise men to suit any purpose. Though I am
not familiar with the attacks on your father, I believe most deeply
that he was a good man who, in his later years, when he often told me
that angels talked to him and that he could see them everywhere, that he
was tormented by the thought that some of the poeple he loved he
believed were in immortal danger of their souls being damned. I believe
most vehemently that when he told me that because I was married to a jew
that I was in danger, that he truly thought I would be damned to hell
by association, not because Mark, my husband was a bad man, in fact he
was very fond of him and had many lively intellectual battles with him,
but because he feared that all jews were in danger of hell because they
were not Christians. This is not an anti-jewish or anti-Israel sentiment
or prejudice but a fond desire to see those he cared for, and that
included all of humanity, brought into the fold of Jesus. This was a
religious and spiritual fear he had for me rather than a secular
prejudice.
As to his rather spurious views on modern politics, I believe the
thought of those he hadn't saved during those World War years haunted
him more than the comfort of those he did save. None of can us can truly
face the horror of the holocaust without having lived through it
ourslves. The most we can do is try to honor the souls of those who
bravely tried, in the face of opposition, to do something actual to try
and and remedy and save those fleeing from persecution. What your father
said or did in later years does nothing to dishonor the brave and
honorable things he did do in Marseilles. Does a man saving a drowning
man ask him his religion? No he reaches out a hand and pulls that person
into a boat. If, in their many years of drifting across an endless
ocean, they venture into that awful arena of political and spiritual
disagreement, it still does nothing to take away the fact that one
reached out to pull a drowning man aboard.
With love and respect for the memory of Hiram Bingham,
his niece, Lucretia Bingham
Spring 1999: US Senator Joseph Lieberman letters:
[to the Chair of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington,
DC]: "In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued an historic
stamp honoring Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg, who rescued
many thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. I was very proud
that the United State Postal service issued a stamp of such
great dignity and importance....At this time, I want to
express my support for a stamp proposal to honor another hero
of the Holocaust, the late American diplomat, Hiram Bingham
IV of Salem, Connecticut, whose story only recently came to
light. I was privileged to pay tribute to Hiram Bingham IV
on the Senate floor in February 1998 and to present his remarkable
story to my colleagues. ... Hiram Bingham IV was a U.S.
diplomat stationed in Marseilles, France, in 1940. Acting against
orders, and at great personal risk, he issued visas, safe
passes, and letters of transit to Jewish refugees. Working in
collaboration with American journalist Varian Fry's
Emergency Rescue Committee, Hiram Bingham IV is credited with helping
save more than 2,500 Jews from the Holocaust. I understand
that many were Jewish artists, intellectuals, scientists and
authors, including Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Andre Breton and
Heinrich Mann..."
11/27/00:
Quotes from a survivor saved by Harry who petitioned for a stamp in
Harry's honor: [To RKB:] "I do want you
to know that Hiram Bingham had me (when I was a 15-year old
boy in Marseille working for the Quakers) into his office
and told me how he would issue my family a visa to the US
after we had obtained the release of my father from the Gurs
Concentration Camp. I consider Hiram Bingham and his
colleague, Myles Standish, as real heroes." [To Postmaster General:]
"I would like to petition herewith the Citizens' Stamp
Advisory Committee and Postmaster General Henderson to look favorably
at the issuance of a commemorative stamp to honor Consul
Hiram Bingham IV, a World War II diplomatic hero of the United
States. I could write a treatise about what Consul Hiram
Bingham did to save refugees during his posting as US Consul
at the American Consulate in Marseille, France in the
1940-1941 period. He definitely helped to save my life and that
of my parents and sister." RMH, Houston,Texas
April 10, 2001: Rescued survivor Marta (Mrs. Lion) Feuchtwanger's 1987 account of her escape from Marseilles (she and
her husband were hiding in Harry's "villa"):
"In the cafes of the city, the abductions of the members of
the Reichstag
Severing and Breitscheid, as well as Theodor Wolff, the
Chief Editor of the Berliner Tagesblatt, were being whispered
about. [They all died in Nazi concentration camps.] We felt
safe for the moment since were on the U.S. soil of the American
Cousulate, not knowing that the private villa of Consul
Hiram Bingham did not enjoy that immunity. I knew that Bingham's
Swiss housekeeper, who was very loyal to the family, was the
sister of a Nazi. The Czech maid alerted me to this situation.
I tried to buy the good will of the caretaker by buying her
gifts. More important was that on many evenings, I took her
place in the kitchen regularly so that she could visit her
brother who was a cook in a hotel. ... Lion, whom Bingham only
permitted to leave the house after sundown to take a few
steps, was concentrating on the third part of his Josephus Novel
and was unaware of the present and of his surroundings. Only
Bingham was depressed frequently filled with an endless despair
about his powerlessness. The State Department had prohibited
him from issuing the necessary visas to the people who were
besieging the Consulate. ... Golo [Mann] came and was also
hidden at Bingham's. ... A new problem arose. In order to be able
to get a French exit Visa, you needed to have an American
entry visa. The name Feuchtwanger was too dangerous. Bingham
had a great idea. He asked Lion whether he had ever
published under a pseudonym. Lion remembered a joke which he pulled
once in Berlin. It was a long time ago. Inspired by Sinclair
Lewis' Babbit, when Lion was writing some American ballads,
he signed them J. L. Wetcheek. That was the American
translation of Feuchtwanger. This enabled the U. S. Consulate to
issue him his visa under the unobtrusive name, Wetcheek.
Everything necessary was prepared by Bingham ... [To escape into
Spain] we had to climb over the mountain where there was no
path and to avoid the road. We were both good mountain climbers
and from skiing I knew how to find my way. I memorized
everything because a map could not be found on us. First we went
through vineyards, then there were only boulders. The most
important was to find the Customs House otherwise one could
be shot as a smuggler. After we had climbed for a long
while, we heard voices below us and they came from the Customs
House. We could not enter the house together because I had
no visa, not even an ID card in another name. Lion, however,
had his American entry visa in his pseudonym of Wetcheek. So
he went ahead alone. I observed how he went into the Customs
House from my hiding place and came out soon thereafter
walking down the mountain with a satisfied demeanor. After that,
I also went into the Customs House and Bingham's advice was
again accurate. He had told us that one could achieve a lot
in Spain with Camel cigarettes and he had filled my backpack
and the pockets of my suit with many packs. So I went into
the Customs House and told them I had heard that there was a
high duty on cigarettes and I decided not to take them, I
preferred leaving them here - and I threw a whole bunch of
packs on the table. They all grabbed the packs, and one of
them quickly stamped a paper I gave him without looking at
the name. I have never gone down a mountain so fast." POSTSCRIPT
by Marta Feuchtwanger in 1987 to the book "Der Teufel In
Frankreich," originally published by Lion Feuchtwanger in 1942.
Translation from German to English Pages 227 to 236 by Ralph
M. Hockley (whose family Harry also rescued).
11/26/00: The TV History
Channel featured Harry and three other "righteous diplomats" on the
Sunday night World Premiere
History Undercover program entitled "Diplomats for the
Damned" at 10PM ET/PT. The one-hour prime-time TV program schedule
noted: "Years before the Allies defeated the Nazis, a
group of unsung heroes took lonely, defiant stands for humanity.
Men like Carl Lutz of Switzerland, Aristides de Sousa
Mendes of Portugal, Hiram Bingham of the United States and Georg
Ferdinand Duckwitz of Germany secretly issued visas,
falsified papers and cut backroom deals, risking their lives and
careers to rescue Jews from the clutches of the Nazis."
The program ended with several of Harry's children singing "Aura
Lee" by his gravesite in Salem, Connecticut - a song he
had taught them, among many. Program tapes can be purchased from
the History Channel.
3/28/00: US Senate
support: Thirty-six United States Senators endorsed the Hiram Bingham IV
postage stamp proposal in
a letter to the USPS. Many thanks to Senator Joe
Lieberman for sponsoring the Senate circular, and to Ms Ilene Pachman
for her follow-up efforts. US Senators who signed the
letter dated March 28, 2000 are: Joseph I. Lieberman, Christopher
J. Dodd, Richard G. Lugar, Paul Wellstone, Wayne Allard,
Max Cleland, Spencer Abraham, Charles E. Grassley, Thomas Daschle,
Russell D. Feingold, Charles E. Schumer, Rod Grams,
Patty Murray, Carl Levin, Chuck Hagel, Mike DeWine, John W. Warner,
Richard H. Bryan, Fred Thompson, Robert Torricelli,
Slade Gorton, Rick Santorum, Barbara Boxer, Paul S. Sarbanes, Richard
J. Durbin, Arlen Specter, John Ashcroft, Frank R.
Lautenberg, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Robert J. kerry, John F. Kerry,
Barbara A. Milkulski, Edward M. Kennedy, Harry Reid,
Gordon Smith and Tim Johnson. And thank you, Senators.
3/9/00: US House
support: The New London Day reported that [former] Rep. Sam Gejdenson is
petitioning members of the
Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee to endorse a stamp
honoring the late Hiram Bingham IV. "Gejdenson urged the endorsement
in a letter to the committee, which recommends stamps
to the U.S. Postal Service. Thirty-four members of Congress signed
the letter. ... To demonstrate broader support for the
stamp, Gejdenson urged his colleagues in Congress to join him in
urging endorsement of the stamp..." The following
House Members signed the letter: Sam Gejdenson, Norman Sisisky, Luis
V. Gutierrez, Charles B. Rangel, Robert T. Matsui,
Jerrold Nadler, Martin Frost, Howard L. Berman, Henry A. Waxman, Sander
Levin, Bob Filner, Tom Lantos, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
Michael R. McNulty, Bernie Sanders, Rush Holt, Grace F. Napolitano,
John B. Larson, Dennis J. Kucinich, Steven C.
LaTourette, Rosa L. DeLauro, Lloyd Doggett, Frank Pallone, Jr., Carrie
P.
Meek, Anthony Weiner, Pete Stark, Peter Deutch, Janice
Schakowsky, Robert Wexler, Max Sandlin, Bob Borski, James Greenwood,
John Lewis, David E. Bonior, Bob Etheridge. Special
thanks goes to former Congressman Gejdenson for this worthy effort,
with heartfelt thanks also to the above
Representatives who joined him. Additionally, I thank the Norwich
Bulletin for
prominently featuring the Hiram Bingham IV stamp drive
on its front page on March 11, 2000. RKB
UN Honors Harry: The
April 3, 2000 "Visas For Life" Exhibit Opening at the United Nations was
a SUCCESS AND A MOVING
EXPERIENCE (news accounts attached). More than 30
Bingham descendants, spouses, in-laws and hundreds of other "righteous
diplomat" descendants, and in-laws and survivors of
the Holocaust attended the ceremony in the General Assembly Great
Hall. Elie Wiesel, Honorary Chairman of the UN
righteous diplomat, exhibit gave a brilliant keynote address.
4/4/00: Statehouse
support: The Connecticut State Legislature unanimously endorsed the
Bingham commemorative stamp proposa: "For the first time in history,"
all 151 state representatives and all 36 senators endorsed a proposal,
without exception.
Congratulations to the two State Representatives
who worked tirelessly on this stamp endorsement: Rob Simmons,
R-Stonington
(now newly-elected Congressman), and Linda Orange,
D-Colchester. [Governor John Rowland and Lieutenant Governor Jodi Rell
had already endorsed the Bingham stamp proposal.]
Governor John G. Rowland designated April 3, 2000 as "Hiram Bingham IV Day in the State of Connecticut":
"WHEREAS, Hiram Bingham IV
courageously followed his conscience by writing ‘visas for life' and
affidavits of eligibility
for passage and organizing refugees'
escapes from Europe, yet many people in the world have still not learned
of this
courageous man; now
THEREFORE, I, JOHN G. ROWLAND, GOVERNOR, DO
HEREBY OFFICIALLY DESIGNATE April 3, 2000 as HIRAM BINGHAM IV DAY in the
State of Connecticut."
11/1/00:
Reliable sources say the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE is finally
considering the Hiram Bingham IV stamp proposal "for 2003," which year
is very appropriate since Harry's 100th birthday anniversary falls on
July 17, 2003 -- a HOPEFUL
SIGN.
10/25/00: LA Times
columnist Mike Downey wrote a very supportive piece about Hiram Bingham
IV, titled "A Holocaust Story
of Heroism and History's Neglect." He invited
outgoing President Clinton to "[ do] something" for Harry: "Before he
cleans
out his Oval Office desk for the last time,
maybe Bill Clinton could consider doing something on behalf of Harry
Bingham.
It's only 60 years overdue. Rabbi David Baron,
for one, would have no objection to this. He knows an unsung hero when
he hears of one. It's just that like millions
of Americans, he hadn't heard of Harry Bingham, at least until a couple
of years ago.... Today, there will be teaching
guides and a new film that can help educate young people -- plus older
ones,
hearing these stories for the first time --
about Harry Bingham and other courageous men like him. On film there is
'Diplomats
for the Damned', which examines non-Jewish men
of authority who put their careers and lives in jeopardy during the
Holocaust."
September 2000:
"CONNECTICUT MAGAZINE" reminds readers to watch Harry on TV: The
magazine wrote of 'Holocaust Hero' Hiram
Bingham IV, at page 168, reminding readers
of the History Channel's History Under Cover program "Diplomats for the
Damned....including
Connecticut's own Harry Bingham."
7/26/00. My wife Anne
and I returned from Geneva, Switzerland, where the UN exhibited the
"righteous diplomats," with
Hiram Bingham IV among the honorees. The
UN-Geneva exhibit, coincidentally, opened on Harry's birthday, July 17,
2000.
In a speech at the reception for
ambassadors, visitors, diplomatic children, and media, James Foley,
Deputy U.S. Representative
to the UN, happily acknowleged America's
"own" diplomat Hiram Bingham among the honorees. As Harry's son, I was
asked
to waive to the audience. It was a very
exciting moment for us and for the other righteous diplomats' children,
who had
a delightful three-day reunion, which
included a ferry-boat ride on Geneva Lake to the picturesque medieval
French city
of Yvoire. RKB
7/26/00: The Lyman Allyn
Museum at Connecticut College and the Jewish Federation of Eastern
Connecticut exhibited the
WWII "righteous diplomats," including
local hero, Harry. They also collected over 1,000 signatures from
attendees, on
16 petitions, supporting the HBIV stamp. I proudly forwarded
these petitions to the Postmaster General.--RKB
3/9/01: Harry's nephew
Stephen Bingham writes: "I think my favorite memories of Uncle Harry are
his various athletic
endeavors. When we were still at Salem
School, your father was getting all of us enthused about "Florball" and
all the
other games that could be played in
the "Sportatron" (Harry's patented 24'- long sport court). It never made
sense to
me why there weren't Sportatrons
everywhere. Uncle Harry felt so strongly that all of you [his eleven
children] should
be good athletes! A contrast with my
family when we were growing up. He was good at whatever sport he was
playing, especially
as I remember, tennis...." SMB,
California
HARRY'S CHILDREN PROUDLY PROMOTE HIS NEWLY-INVENTED "FLORBALL RACQUETS." (Circa 1949)
Harry's "Sportatron" with red-striped roof at the family's Salem, Connecticut home,
circa 1980. Harry's eleven children played exciting games in the Sportatron for years.
4/20/00,
the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee met in Washington, DC, and
sources say the Hiram Bingham IV stamp proposal
received a "favorable reading." The USPS, which acts on the
committee's recommendations, typically announce any stamp
acceptance in the Fall of the year before its issuance. RKB
5/4/00:
Present at an elegant 1000-person dinner sponsored by the American
Jewish Committee in honor of the "Righteous
Diplomats" at Union Station's Convention Center, Washington,
DC was Madeleine Albright, keynote speaker. Before her speech,
she walked to the Bingham family table adjacent to hers and
warmly shook hands with each of Harry's children, Abigail,
Robert Kim, and William and their spouses. This gracious
gesture seemed to indicate a 180-degree turn around by the State
Department since the department transferred Harry out of
Marseilles almost 60 years ago, for violating its policy by rescuing
people from the Holocaust. The children of the honored
diplomats were asked to stand and received an ovation. RKB
April 30 and
May 11, 2000: On April 30, the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut
awarded the Bingham family an elaborate
menorah in appreciation of their father's bravery during the
Holocaust. The gift was on display during the lovely exhibition
at the Lyman Allyn Museaum, which ran through mid-July 2000.
At the (second) May 11 opening, Governor Rowland personally
proclaimed "Hiram Bingham IV Day in the State of Connecticut,"
calling Harry Connecticut's "international hero."
Earlier news:
Spring 2000:
Elie Wiesel graciously accepted the Honorary Chairmanship of the
Righteous Diplomats "Visas for Life" exhibit
at the UN in New York (April 3, 2000).
Calling Hiram Bingham IV "AMERICA'S WALLENBERG," a joint
letter of support for the Hiram Bingham IV stamp was signed
by the President and Executive Director of the American
Jewish Committee in New York in early 2000. The American Jewish
Committee now refered to Hiram Bingham IV as "America's
Wallenberg" in its petition to Dr. Noelke, Chairperson of the
Citizens' Stamp Advisory committee, responsible for
recommending commemorative stamps to the United States Postal Service.
HIRAM BINGHAM
IV MENTIONED IN NEW BOOK: On Decemebr 20, 1999, Eric Saul, Simon
Wiesanthal Center Curator, wrote me: "I
have got some great news for you to pass along to the
Bingham family. ... There is a new book on Varian Fry that just came
out. It is called: "A Quiet American: The Secret War of
Varian Fry," by Andy Marino, published by St. Martin's Press.
I have been reading it and your father [Hiram Bingham IV] is
mentioned prominently in several places. Varian Fry talks
about the importance of a friend in the American embassy in
Marseilles. I will be taking the information from this book
and passing it along to the Righteous Department in Israel. I
will send this information to you as soon as it is finished."
HARRY'S SURVIVOR PUBLISHES LETTER IN JANUARY 2000 ISSUE OF FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL IN SUPPORT OF HIRAM BINGHAM IV COMMEMORATIVE
STAMP, "A Consul Who Saved Lives," at page 11:
"I feel I should recount [my experience fleeing France]. In
the years before
WWII, my father, owner of a French newspaper feature
syndicate and publisher of several magazines, had published a number
of anti-Nazi news stories. When the Germans overran
France, my father was high on the Gestapo list and therefore in great
danger. Our family joined the long line of refugees going
south on the roads of France, one step ahead of the advancing
German Panzer divisions. On reaching Lyon, my father went
to the American consulate to obtain U.S. visas. His connection
with the United States was very close: His press syndicate
represented the Hearst Corp. in Europe, his magazine business
was closely associated with both the Disney and the
Fawcett organizations, and he had an established office of his own
in New York. ... The consul told him he could have
visitor's visas for himself, his wife, and one child. The other two
children would have to stay in France, according to
regulations, he said, 'to insure that you will return to France and
not stay in the U.S. beyond your visitor status.' My
father, of course, refused such a bargain. Proceeding to Marseille,
he again went to the American consulate. The consul was
Hiram Bingham, who did not hesitate to issue visas for our entire
family. I learned later that he helped many people who
were in danger from the Germans. His courage and generosity cost
him much. The Germans complained of his activities to the
Vichy government, who then complained to Washington. It was
still the time when President Roosevelt, by sending
Admiral Leahy to Vichy, hoped to influence [Marshal] Petain. Hiram
Bingham was transferrred out of Marseille and sent to a
South American post [Buenos Aires]. He was eventually to resign
from the Foreign Service. ... This story has a strange
sequel. Eight years later, I married an American Foreign Service
officer. In the late 1970s our son was a student at Groton
School in Massachusetts, and one lovely autumn day we went
there for a parents' weekend. Sitting in the dining room
at lunch, we introduced ourselves to the man sitting next to
me. He was Hiram Bingham. (He had a son in the same form
as our son.) When I expressed my family's profound gratitude
for what he had done for us, I found him to be an affable
but rather shy and modest man, whose most satisfying recollecltion
of that period seemed to be that he had helped Marc
Chagall. Hiram Bingham is now dead, but not long ago I was in touch
with his son [Kim], who informed me that the State of
Israel had recognized in a ceremony the help that Hiram Bingham
had given to many Jewish intellectuals and artists trapped
in France in 1940. The son and other Americans aware of the
father's actions are trying to persuade the U.S. Postal
Service to issue a commemorative stamp in his father's memory.
It seems to me that this at least should be done for Hiram
Bingham. L-S-M"
February 2000: One question the History Channel producer asked me when his film crew came to our family home in Salem
from Hollywood was: "What caused HBIV to stand above his peers?" I answered along the folowing lines:
1) Harry's personal
motto, taught to his children, was relevant: "Give the
Best that You Have to the Best that You know." During the Holocaust,
saving lives was "the best that he knew."
2) He believed there is a "spark of divinity" in each
human being. He saved
not only luminaries but also many ordinary refugees.
It was painful for him to remember the long lines of individuals
outside the consulate desperately seeking exit visas.
He once told me he thought they were "treated like cattle." He could
not talk about his experience without displaying agony
and a deep frown on his face.
3) His family's missionary "zeal"
may have augmented his motivation: Hiram I led the first
missionaries to Hawaii in 1918 (he was depicted as Abner Hale
in Mitchener's "Hawaii"); Hiram II was also a missionary
in the Sandwich Islands who single-handedly translated the entire
Bible into written Gilbertese; Hiram III was a public
servant who also became an explorer (who discovered Machu Picchu
in Peru) and later became a US senator of Connecticut.
Hiram IV neither converted souls nor entered politics, but, with
equal zeal of his forbears, he "quietly battled to save
lives" from the Holocaust.
4) He believed bullies should be stopped:
Hitler was an evil bully. HB-IV told his son how, when
he was a youngster, he stopped a student bully who was picking on
another smaller student on a school bus. When they got
off, and he again told the bully to stop. The bigger student asked
him "What are you going to do about it?" HB-IV thereupon
slowly removed his thick glasses threatening to poke the bully
in the nose. The startled bully turned and ran.
5) His "GOLDEN HEART" played a role: his colleague, Varian
Fry, and other
underground partners in the "crime of saving human
lives," wrote that Hiram Bingham IV had "a heart of gold." These traits
could have made HBIV stand above his peers, as he
placed humanity above career, while he was stationed as a vice counsel
in Marseilles (1939-1941) during the nightmare of the
Holocaust.
RKB
PLEASE VISIT THE COMPREHENSIVE DIRECTORY AT THIS SITE BY CLICKING THE DIRECTORY BUTTON AT THE LINKS PORTION OF THIS
MAIN PAGE.
|
times since 23 July 2003 
