USPS Distinguished American Diplomats - Hiram Bingham IV

USPS on 30 May 2006 issued a commemorative 39 cent stamp honouring Hiram Bingham IV in its series of Distinguished American Diplomats. Hiram Bingham IV (1903-1988) was one of six distinguished American diplomats featured. The first day cover postmark cancellation originated from Washington, DC. This multicoloured stamp was printed using a photogravure method, by Avery Dennison

Most people are aware of Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenburg and his exploits, but probably not Bingham and the 347 diplomats who often defied the policies of their respective governments to issue visas, passports and similar documents to refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and Nazi occupied countries.

 

Bingham began his career in China, where he saw communism begin to take over the country.  He later served in Poland and England.  In 1939, Bingham was transferred to the US Consulate in Marseilles, France.  The following year, Germany invaded the country and set up a Nazi-friendly government.  The thousands of refugees who had fled to France in previous years were forced into internment camps.

At this time, the U.S. State Department discouraged its diplomats from granting visas to the refugees.  After touring the camps and observing the poor conditions of the occupants, Bingham decided to defy orders and began helping refugees escape France.  He issued Nansen passports, travel documents for refugees who could not get passports from their home country.  Word spread of the vice consul’s efforts.  Martha Sharp, an American rescue worker, wrote this about Bingham: “I am proud that our government is represented in its Foreign Services by a man of your quality… I believe that such humane and cooperative handling of individuals is what we need most coupled with intelligence and good breeding.”

Unfortunately, the U.S. State Department did not view Bingham’s actions in the same positive light.  In 1941, he was moved to South America.  While stationed in Argentina, he helped find Nazi war criminals that had escaped to the country.  Bingham resigned from the Foreign Service in 1945.

The former diplomat moved to a farm in Connecticut to raise his family.  His wife and 11 children “never knew why his career had soured,” according to his youngest son.  After his death on January 12, 1988, the story was revealed when the family found a dusty bundle hidden in a closet.  The letters, documents, and photographs told the story of Bingham’s rescue of more than 2,500 Jews in ten short months.

Since that time, the United Nations and the state of Israel have honoured Hiram Bingham IV.  His children accepted the Constructive Dissent award on his behalf in 2002.  The family donated the documents to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and some of them were part of a traveling exhibit called Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats.  In 1998, one of Bingham’s sons began asking the US Postal Service to issue a stamp in his father’s honour.  That goal was realised in 2006 when Bingham was featured as part of the Distinguished American Diplomats Series.

Source: United States Postal Service