José Castellanos Contreras
Encyclopedia
José Arturo Castellanos Contreras (San Vicente
, El Salvador
, December 23, 1893 — San Salvador, June 18, 1977) was a Salvadoran army colonel
and diplomat
who, while working as El Salvador's Consul General for Geneva during World War II
, and in conjunction with a Jewish-Hungarian businessman named György Mandl
, helped save up to 40,000 Jews
and Central Europeans from Nazi persecution by providing them with false papers of Salvadoran nationality
.
Adelino Castellanos and Isabel Contreras de Castellanos. Beginning in 1910, when he entered the Escuela Politécnica Militar (Military Polytechnic
School), Coronel Castellanos would spend over 26 active years in the Salvadoran military, eventually achieving the rank
of Second Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic. Subsequently he would serve as Salvadorean Consul General in the following locations: Liverpool, England
, 1937; Hamburg, Germany
, 1938; Geneva, Switzerland
, 1941-45.
It was during his time as consul in neutral
Switzerland that Colonel Castellanos was approached by a Transylvanian-born
Jewish businessman named György Mandl who reiterated to him the grave situation in which he, his family, and countless of his coreligionists found themselves. Castellanos, moved to help Mandl, gave him the ad hoc
post of First Secretary
to the Consul and had papers of Salvadoran nationality prepared for him and his family. Following a close call with the Gestapo
in which the faux position and papers saved the family (who now bore the Italianate
name of Mantello
) from being sent to Auschwitz, Mandl (with Castellanos's consent) proceeded to secretly issue at least 13,000 "certificates of Salvadoran citizenship" to Central European Jews (principally through the Swiss Consular Office of Carl Lutz
). The documents granted the bearers the right to seek and receive the protection of the International Red Cross and, eventually, of the Swiss Consul in Budapest
; these guarantees, in effect, saved thousands of "Salvadorans" of Bulgaria
n, Czechoslovakia
n, Hungarian
, Polish
, and Romania
n extraction from Nazi depredations.
Colonel Castellanos's efforts on behalf of the Jews of Central Europe have been recognized at various times by the Anti-Defamation League
, the American Jewish Committee
, and the group Visas For Life. In 1999 the Jerusalem City Council honored Castellanos's granddaughter on the occasion of the inauguration of El Salvador St. in the neighborhood of Givat Masua. In 1995 President Bill Clinton
, in a letter to the Anti-Defamation League, paid tribute to Coronel Castellanos and other members of the Salvadoran diplomatic corps
, for their efforts in saving thousands from Nazi extermination. Castellanos, who hardly ever spoke of his role as rescuer during World War II
, was interviewed by writer Leon Uris
on the subject in 1972. After the Israeli Foreign Ministry
and the Jewish Community of El Salvador have both asked (the "Holocaust Martyrs'
and Heroes' Remembrance Authority"), José Arturo Castellanos Contreras was recognized with the title of "Righteous Among the Nations
" by Yad Vashem
in 2010.
, a native of Switzerland, with whom he had three daughters and two sons: Frieda, Yvone, Blanca Luz, Paul Andree, and Jose Arturo Castellanos Jr. After the war, Castellanos lived a quiet life and played down his role.
The writer Leon Uris tracked down the retired diplomat in 1972 and Castellanos gave a brief radio interview in 1976, but otherwise he remained anonymous and his contribution went unrecognised. He died in 1977, three years after Oskar Schindler
's equally low-key passing.
San Vicente, El Salvador
San Vicente is a municipality in the San Vicente department of El Salvador. It was founded by 50 Spanish families in 1635, under the Tempisque tree, which is still standing today....
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, December 23, 1893 — San Salvador, June 18, 1977) was a Salvadoran army colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
who, while working as El Salvador's Consul General for Geneva during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and in conjunction with a Jewish-Hungarian businessman named György Mandl
George Mantello
George Mantello, born György Mandl or Mandel was a Jewish diplomat who, while working for the Salvadoran consulate in Geneva, Switzerland, saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust by providing fictive Salvadoran citizenship papers and rescued tens of thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands...
, helped save up to 40,000 Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Central Europeans from Nazi persecution by providing them with false papers of Salvadoran nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
.
Public life and achievements
Colonel Castellanos was born in the provincial city of San Vicente to GeneralGeneral
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Adelino Castellanos and Isabel Contreras de Castellanos. Beginning in 1910, when he entered the Escuela Politécnica Militar (Military Polytechnic
Institute of technology
Institute of technology is a designation employed in a wide range of learning institutions awarding different types of degrees and operating often at variable levels of the educational system...
School), Coronel Castellanos would spend over 26 active years in the Salvadoran military, eventually achieving the rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
of Second Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic. Subsequently he would serve as Salvadorean Consul General in the following locations: Liverpool, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 1937; Hamburg, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, 1938; Geneva, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, 1941-45.
It was during his time as consul in neutral
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
Switzerland that Colonel Castellanos was approached by a Transylvanian-born
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
Jewish businessman named György Mandl who reiterated to him the grave situation in which he, his family, and countless of his coreligionists found themselves. Castellanos, moved to help Mandl, gave him the ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
post of First Secretary
Diplomatic rank
Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis.-Ranks:...
to the Consul and had papers of Salvadoran nationality prepared for him and his family. Following a close call with the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in which the faux position and papers saved the family (who now bore the Italianate
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
name of Mantello
Mantello
Mantello is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 80 km northeast of Milan and about 30 km west of Sondrio. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 704 and an area of 3.7 km²....
) from being sent to Auschwitz, Mandl (with Castellanos's consent) proceeded to secretly issue at least 13,000 "certificates of Salvadoran citizenship" to Central European Jews (principally through the Swiss Consular Office of Carl Lutz
Carl Lutz
Carl Lutz was the Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, Hungary from 1942 until the end of World War II. He helped save tens of thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi Extermination camps during the Holocaust. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews...
). The documents granted the bearers the right to seek and receive the protection of the International Red Cross and, eventually, of the Swiss Consul in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
; these guarantees, in effect, saved thousands of "Salvadorans" of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n, Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n extraction from Nazi depredations.
Colonel Castellanos's efforts on behalf of the Jews of Central Europe have been recognized at various times by the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
, the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, and the group Visas For Life. In 1999 the Jerusalem City Council honored Castellanos's granddaughter on the occasion of the inauguration of El Salvador St. in the neighborhood of Givat Masua. In 1995 President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, in a letter to the Anti-Defamation League, paid tribute to Coronel Castellanos and other members of the Salvadoran diplomatic corps
Diplomatic corps
The diplomatic corps or corps diplomatique is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body.The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission who represent their countries in another state or country...
, for their efforts in saving thousands from Nazi extermination. Castellanos, who hardly ever spoke of his role as rescuer during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, was interviewed by writer Leon Uris
Leon Uris
Leon Marcus Uris was an American novelist, known for his historical fiction and the deep research that went into his novels. His two bestselling books were Exodus, published in 1958, and Trinity, in 1976.-Life:...
on the subject in 1972. After the Israeli Foreign Ministry
Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel
The Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The position is one of the most important in the Israeli cabinet after Prime Minister and Defense Minister...
and the Jewish Community of El Salvador have both asked (the "Holocaust Martyrs'
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
and Heroes' Remembrance Authority"), José Arturo Castellanos Contreras was recognized with the title of "Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
" by Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
in 2010.
Personal life
Colonel Castellanos married Maria SchürmannSchurmann
Schürmann is a family name that comes from Old German language, meaning "one who shears," probably referring to sheep-shearing. Schürmann is the surname of:* Georg Caspar Schürmann , German Baroque composer...
, a native of Switzerland, with whom he had three daughters and two sons: Frieda, Yvone, Blanca Luz, Paul Andree, and Jose Arturo Castellanos Jr. After the war, Castellanos lived a quiet life and played down his role.
The writer Leon Uris tracked down the retired diplomat in 1972 and Castellanos gave a brief radio interview in 1976, but otherwise he remained anonymous and his contribution went unrecognised. He died in 1977, three years after Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler was an ethnic German industrialist born in Moravia. He is credited with saving over 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.He is the subject of the...
's equally low-key passing.
See also
- Per AngerPer AngerPer Johan Valentin Anger was a Swedish diplomat who participated in numerous efforts to rescue Hungarian Jews from arrest and deportation by the Nazis during World War II.-Early career:...
- María EdwardsMaría EdwardsMaría Edwards McClure was a Chilean woman who was honored in November 2005 at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial as one of the "Righteous Among The Nations," for her participation during the Holocaust...
- Giorgio PerlascaGiorgio PerlascaGiorgio Perlasca was an Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
- Eduardo Propper de CallejónEduardo Propper de CallejónEduardo Propper de Callejón was a Spanish diplomat who is mainly remembered for having facilitated the escape of thousands of Jews from occupied France during the World War II between 1940 and 1944....
- Ángel Sanz BrizÁngel Sanz BrizÁngel Sanz Briz was a Spanish diplomat during World War II who helped save many Hungarian Jews from Nazi persecution.After studying law, his first diplomatic posting was to Cairo...
- Luiz Martins de Souza DantasLuiz Martins de Souza DantasLuis Martins de Souza Dantas was a Brazilian diplomat who was awarded the Righteous Among The Nations by the Israeli Supreme Court in June 2003 for his participation during the Holocaust in helping Jews in France escape. It is estimated he saved 800 people, 425 confirmed to be Jewish...
- Aristides de Sousa MendesAristides de Sousa MendesAristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, GCC, OL was a Portuguese diplomat. He ignored and defied the orders of his own government for the safety of war refugees fleeing from invading German military forces in the early years of World War II...
- History of the Jews in the Dominican RepublicHistory of the Jews in the Dominican RepublicThe first Jews known to have reached the island of Hispaniola were Spanish. These arrived in 1492, when the island was discovered by Christopher Columbus. Anti-semitism, the Spanish Inquisition and finally expulsion caused Jews to flee Spain which had been their home for hundreds of years.Columbus'...
- History of the Jews in El SalvadorHistory of the Jews in El SalvadorJews have been present in El Salvador since the early 19th century, starting with Sephardic French Jews and continuing with the arrival of World War II Ashkenazi refugees.-History of the Jews in El Salvador:...
- Raoul WallenbergRaoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
External links
- http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/saviors/others/el-salvador-rescuing-country.2593.htm El Salvador a Rescuing Country; Raoul Wallenberg FoundationRaoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
] - The Guardian: Call to honour El Salvador's rescuer of Jews
- Glass House: the story of El Salvador's WWII rescue operations
- Héroe del Holocausto {es}