Hiram Bingham IV
Vice consul in wartime Marseille who, against the prevailing policy of his own government, helped more than 2,500 refugees, most of them Jewish, escape Nazi-occupied France.
Service Record
| Born | July 17, 1903 |
|---|---|
| Family | Son of Hiram Bingham III, explorer of Machu Picchu and U.S. Senator from Connecticut |
| Education | Groton School; Yale University, 1925; law degree, Harvard University |
| Posts | Beijing; Warsaw; third secretary, London, 1934; vice consul, Marseille, from 1939; Portugal and Argentina, 1941 |
| Resigned | 1946 |
| Died | January 12, 1988, Salem, Connecticut |
| Honors | Posthumous Constructive Dissent award, presented by Secretary of State Colin Powell, June 27, 2002; U.S. postage stamp, May 30, 2006; ADL Courage to Care Award, 2006; Simon Wiesenthal Center Medal of Valor, 2011 |
Overview
Harry Bingham helped save more than 2,500 people from the Nazis, at the cost of his own career, and told almost no one. The world learned what he had done only after his death.
Early Life and Education
He was one of seven sons of Hiram Bingham III, the explorer who brought Machu Picchu to world attention and later served as governor of Connecticut and U.S. Senator. He attended Groton and graduated from Yale in 1925, worked at the U.S. embassy in Japan, and earned a law degree at Harvard before placing third in his class on the Foreign Service examination.
Career
His first Foreign Service assignment was Beijing, followed by Warsaw and London. In 1939 he was posted to Marseille as vice consul.
Marseille, 1940 – 1941
After France fell in June 1940, thousands of refugees poured into Marseille in search of visas. Despite official discouragement, Bingham toured internment camps, sought American aid to improve conditions, helped refugees avoid internment, and issued travel documents freely. He worked with rescuer Varian Fry on the escape of the painter Marc Chagall, the political theorist Hannah Arendt, the novelist Lion Feuchtwanger, and many others, at one point sheltering Feuchtwanger in his own home. He also helped organize the evacuation of children to the United States.
Consequences
In 1941 the State Department abruptly removed him from Marseille and transferred him to Portugal and then Argentina. Passed over for promotion, he resigned from the Foreign Service in 1946.
Legacy
After his death in 1988 his family discovered documents revealing what he had done. In 2002 Secretary of State Colin Powell presented his children with a posthumous award for constructive dissent. In 2006 the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor, and he has since been recognized by Yad Vashem, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Recognition
Envoys of Record recognizes Hiram Bingham IV for Courage of Conscience: for placing principle ahead of career when it mattered most.