Eduard Benedek Brunschweiler

Who was Eduard Benedek Brunschweiler?

Eduard Benedek Brunschweiler was a Swiss national who was appointed by the International Committee of the Red Cross to manage the Benedictine Archabbey of Pannonhalma on their behalf, during the final months of the German occupation, towards the end of the Second World War.

In early 1944, Archabbot Kelemen Krizosztom wrote to the Committee with a proposal that the Archabbey, situated in North-Western Hungary, be placed at the disposal of the ICRC. Friedrich Born, the ICRC delegate in Budapest, took this opportunity both to help protect the 800-year old historical buildings and at the same time make use of them to provide shelter for refugees from the conflict. Born obtained agreements from the Hungarian government and the German military that the premises of the abbey were to be regarded as militarily neutral, despite the fact that they were directly on the line of defence between the Soviet Red Army and the German forces.

In October 1944, Born appointed Brunschweiler, a Swiss national who had been living in Budapest, to take charge of the operation, on behalf of the ICRC.