Who was the 'British Schindler'

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A.� A modest but accomplished British diplomat called Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell. As the Ambassador to Lisbon in the Second World War, he saved the lives of about 1,000 Jews by issuing them visas to go to Mauritius. His heroic role has just been revealed in files issued by the Chief Rabbi.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� Mauritius Why there

A.� I'll get to this in a minute. First, a little background. Jewish populations in central Europe - including Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania - were being sent to Nazi extermination camps and Joseph Hertz, the Chief Rabbi in London, urged desperate measures to save them. One way to escape the Nazis was to claim diplomatic protection. Diplomats from neutral countries, such as Switzerland, Sweden and the Vatican, issued papers and established safe houses for Jews.

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Joanna Newman, an historian from the London Jewish Cultural Centre, has found papers revealing Britain's rescue operation. A letter from the Colonial Office to the Chief Rabbi in June, 1943, says that rabbis and their families in Nazi-occupied territories could have visas to go to Mauritius.

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British passport officers in neutral Madrid, Lisbon and Ankara were told to obtain visas so that the rabbis could leave Nazi territory. The plan was particularly successful in Portugal.

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Q.� And Mauritius

A.� Yes. Once travel documents had been issued, Britain could use neutral diplomats or the Red Cross to get the papers to named Jews in German-occupied countries.�

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The idea of sending these rabbis to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius idea was a red herring. The visas were a device to help the Jews to survive and travel through Europe. If a visa gave the impression that they were travelling on to a third country, it was much persuade border guards to let you through. They thought you were merely travelling, rather than escaping.

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Q.� It worked

A.� Yes - and Hertz, the Chief Rabbi wrote to Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden praising Campbell in 1944, calling the operation an outstanding success.

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One of those who escaped was Beno Sternberg. His nephew, Sir Sigmund Sternberg, patron of the International Council of Christians and Jews, said: 'It did help because the Germans always took note of things like documents ... I want to give credit to the British government that they took this step. They did care. We always hear that they did nothing.'

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Q.� And how many lives were saved in this way

A.� Throughout Europe, diplomats saved 250,000 Jewish lives. The most famous ruse was by the German industrialist Oskar Schindler, about whom Steven Spielberg made the Hollywood blockbuster Schindler's List.

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Campbell's work is featured in the Visas for Life exhibition opened in London last week by Peter Hain, the Minister for Europe. It runs at the London Jewish Cultural Centre until 13 June and further details may be obtained by calling 020 7431 0345.

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Q.� And what about Campbell himself

A.� Born in Scotland, son of a diplomat. He rose swiftly through the ranks to become Ambassador to Paris in 1939, when he helped the defeated French to decide to maintain a government in exile.

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In Lisbon, Campbell - a gifted linguist - encouraged the Portuguese to allow the Azores to be used as a base for the Allies in the Battle of the Atlantic. At the same time he got Portugal to assist in the Jewish rescue mission, his cousin Sir Francis D'Arcy Godolphin Osborne was doing similar work as ambassador in the Vatican.

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Sir Ronald died in retirement in 1953, never telling his family about his heroism. His daughter-in-law Lady Mary Mayall said of him: 'He was a wonderful man whose knowledge was fantastic but he never showed off.'

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A true British hero, then.

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Steve Cunningham