Don Angel Sanz-Briz, Spanish Minister (Ambassador) in Budapest, Hungary, 1944

In the summer of 1944, Sanz-Briz appealed to Madrid for permission to provide Spanish protective papers for Jews in Budapest.  Unable to obtain permission, he issued hundreds of Spanish protective passes on his own authority.  He authorized the establishment and protection of dozens of safe houses in Budapest at his own personal cost.  By the end of the war, many thousands of Jews were saved by receiving protection from Sanz-Briz and other members of the Spanish legation. 

He served a long and distinguished career for Spain.  His last assignment was Spanish Ambassador to the Vatican.  He died in 1980.  Sanz-Briz was declared Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1965.