The Hungarian philosopher Ágnes Heller and the journalist Agnes Hirschi are not only connected by their first name. When World War II began, Heller was ten years old and Hirschi was just turning one. Both survived the Holocaust thanks to the Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz.

Carl Lutz was vice-consul in Budapest between 1942 and 1945. He proactively initiated a system of protection passes that allowed to save tens of thousands of persecuted Jews in Hungary from being deported to the Nazi death camps.

Agnes Hirschi moved to Switzerland in 1949 after Carl Lutz married her mother. There she grew up and lives since then. With great commitment, she is working to keep the memory of her stepfather and his merits alive. Her book «Under Swiss Protection – Jewish Eyewitness Accounts from Wartime Budapest» was published last November, which she co-wrote with Charlotte Schallié (ed.). It contains testimonies of people who were rescued by Carl Lutz, including Ágnes Heller. In this new release, Ágnes Hirschi also describes how she survived the war.

Ágnes Heller and Agnes Hirschi, who have experienced the same extraordinary fate, will personally meet for the first time on February 22. 2018 at the Andrássy University and will have a conversation under the moderation of historian Henriett Kovács.

During the conversation, the book «Under Swiss Protection», by Ágnes Hirschi and Charlotte Schallié (ed.), will be presented.