When Diplomats Become Rescuers

A short history of American diplomats who used their posts to help refugees.

A recurring role

Diplomats are often the last Americans on the ground when a country falls. Again and again, consular officers and embassy staff have had to decide how far to go to help people in danger.

Moments

• Marseille, 1940 to 1941. Hiram Bingham IV issued visas to refugees fleeing the Nazis.
• Budapest, 1956. The U.S. legation became a refuge for Cardinal József Mindszenty, who lived there for fifteen years.
• Saigon, 1975. Embassy officers, and Lionel Rosenblatt and Craig Johnstone, worked to evacuate Vietnamese colleagues.
• Bangkok, from 1975. U.S. refugee officers processed hundreds of thousands of people from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• Kabul, 2021. Consular officers worked at the airport gates during Operation Allies Welcome. Some, like Mustafa Popal, had once been refugees from Afghanistan themselves.