Glasshouses in Budapest and Port Macquarie
A fascinating connection exists between The Glasshouse in Port Macquarie and The Glass House in Budapest through Glasshouse through the Courage to Care exhibition currently being held in the mid-northern NSW town.
Mayor Peta Pinson
The Glass House in Budapest had once been a glass factory but under the leadership of Carl Lutz, it became a place of refuge for Jewish people during WWII.
It is a moral symbol of courage and Carl Lutz was a man who had the courage to care.
Lutz, soon after being appointed Swiss vice-consul, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel, issued Swiss safe-conduct documents that enabled Jewish Children to emigrate. In 1944 when the Nazis took over Budapest, working with others like Raoul Wallenberg enabled tens of thousands of Jewish people to leave.
One notable Australian who owes his life to Carl Lutz is Frank Lowy.
Carl Lutz is credited with saving the lives of 62,00 Jewish people during the Holocaust. The Glass House also had a broader impact because it was used as a headquarters by the Jewish youth underground which saved many lives.
Courage to Care honours brave men and women who did extraordinary things to save lives. They retell the stories of many Righteous among the Nations in schools and at exhibitions to empower students and adults to stand up for victims of discrimination, racism, and injustice.
The Courage to Care exhibition
In opening the exhibition, the Mayor of Port Macquarie, Peta Pinson said it was a privilege for Port Macquarie to host the exhibition and help inspire and empower people through the stories of rescue and personal testimonies. The exhibition runs from 9 July to 28 August 2022.
Over the seven weeks of the Port Macquarie Glasshouse Courage to Care exhibition, it is expected that about 1500 students participating in the two-hour program consisting of a film overview, a Survivor telling their story and a facilitated workshop.
General David Hurley, the Governor-General of Australia, once said, ‘The standard you walk past is the standard you accept’. The objective of the exhibition and the program is to encourage participants to ‘do the right thing’ when they see discrimination, racism and bullying in their schools or the wider community and not accept a standard that is unjust and morally wrong.
Elie Wiesel said, ‘there may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest’.
