University of Southern California
The University Libraries
12733 Mulholland Dr.
BeverlyHills CA 90201
November 7, 1997
Mr. Mordechai Pala Diel
Righteous Among Nations Program
Heroes and Martyrs Memorial Museum
Yad Vashem
Jerusalem
Dear Mr. Pala Diel,
My recommendation of Hiram Bingham is strong and enthusiastic,
without conditions or qualifications. In the year 1940, when
the official foreign policy of America was hands-off neutrality,
Mr. Bingham fearlessly chose a course of action that his conscience
caused him to pursue.
Working in the American Consulate in Marseille, he issued
visas to refugees from Hitler Germany even though the policy
of our country forbade it. Hiram Bingham even went beyond taking
that step. He provided safety for writer Lion Feuchtwanger and
his wife Marta by providing lodging for them at his house in
the outskirts of Marseille(!) which was inviolable American property.
As a result of Mr. Bingham's moral commitment the Feuchtwangers
had asylum until preparations, in which Mr. Bingham also played
a part, were made for them to escape France across the Pyrenees
on foot.
Hiram Bingham did not lose his life, physically, but suffered
much in his professional life as a consequence of his heroic
actions in Marseille.
Yours sincerely,
[original signed]
Harold von Hofe
Director Feuchtwanger Institute For Exile Studies
Cc Eric Saul
University of Southern California Los Angeles, California
90089-0182
