The Aid and Rescue Committee, or ''Va'adat Ha-Ezrah ve-ha-Hatzalah be-Budapesht'' (''Vaada'' for short; name in ) was a small committee of

Zionists Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly cor ...

in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944–1945, who helped Hungarian Jews escape

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

during the German occupation of that country.Bauer, Yehuda (1994). ''Jews for Sale: Nazi–Jewish Negotiations, 1933-1945''. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 152. The Committee was also known as the Rescue and Relief Committee, and the Budapest Rescue Committee. The main personalities of the ''Vaada'' were Ottó Komoly, president; Rudolf Kasztner, executive vice-president; Samuel Springmann, treasurer; and Joel Brand, who was in charge of ''tijul'' or the underground rescue of Jews.Hilberg, Raul. ''The Destruction of the European Jews'', Yale University Press, 2003, p. 901. Other members were Hansi Brand (Joel Brand's wife); Ernő Szilágyi from the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

'';Bauer 1994, p. 153. Peretz Revesz; Andras Biss; and Niszon Kahan. After the German occupation in March 1944 responsibilities were split: Otto Komoly became mainly in charge of dealing with Hungarian government, military and police figures (the so-called 'line A'), while Kasztner (after Brand's departure to Istanbul) led the negotiations with the Germans (the so-called 'line B') including Eichmann.

See also

References

Further reading