The World Jewish Congress, together with the Permanent Mission of Slovakia to the United Nations in Geneva, held an event to honor the memory of Stefan Lux, a Slovak-born Jewish journalist who committed suicide before the League of Nations plenary in July 1936 in order to raise awareness of the plight of German Jewry and the rise of the Nazis.
The event, the first time Stefan Lux was commemorated inside the United Nations in Geneva, took place on 4 November 2022 to coincide with his birthdate and was attended by ambassadors and diplomats representing some 40 countries, the Chief Rabbi of Geneva, and representatives of the Jewish community of Geneva.
Ambassador Dushan Matulay of Slovakia and Dr. Leon Saltiel, WJC Representative at the UN in Geneva, delivered brief opening remarks. Ambassador Matulay stressed how impressed he was when he learned about Lux’s selfless act, something that remains generally unknown. Saltiel explained that in August 1936, a month after Lux’s suicide, the World Jewish Congress was founded in the same hall in Geneva in which the tragic incident had taken place. From the podium, founder Nahum Goldmann declared: “One day, they will erect memorials in Germany in the memory of Stefan Lux.”
A short clip of the movie “Amen” by Costa Gavras was shown, which begins with a re-enactment of Lux’s suicide. A panel discussion followed, which featured Dr. Martin Posch, Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Holocaust Documentation Centre; Dr. Jakub Drábik, Slovak Academy of Science; and Dr. Lubor Jílek, Geneva University, who discussed the Jewish community in interwar Czechoslovakia, the background of Stefan Lux, the political climate in the mid-1930s, the work of the League of Nations at the time, and the repercussions of his act in the media and the political scene.
The discussion was moderated by Ms. Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, Chief of the Institutional Memory Section, United Nations Library & Archives Geneva, who also prepared a display from the League of Nations archives containing information on Stefan Lux’s act and a handwritten letter penned by him.
The event concluded with a short violin performance by Mr. Maxim Sinitskiy, an 18-year-old award-winning violin player from Donetsk, Ukraine who is currently studying in Geneva.
Later this month, the other two partner organizations for organizing the event—the Jewish Community of Geneva and the Association for the Jewish Heritage of Geneva—will organize a small ceremony in the Jewish cemetery of Geneva to replace Lux’s tombstone. The World Jewish Congress, together with the Missions of Austria and Germany, have requested that the City of Geneva erect a monument for Lux in the public sphere.
