Description:

R. Wallenberg Initialed Rare Schutz-Pass Protecting 25-Year-Old Katalin Szász, Holocaust Survivor

A 1p bilingual document in German and Hungarian, known as a Schutz-Pass or protective passport, issued by the Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest, Hungary on September 26, 1944. The document is initialed by Secretary of the Royal Swedish Legation Raoul Wallenberg (1912-1945) with an "R" at the lower right. This "R" looks more like a squiggle but is indeed the ever-diminishing mark of Wallenberg. At first, he would sign these documents in full, then as the heat was rising for his surreptitious activities, just a well-shaped "R"; eventually the present squiggle, perhaps to avoid identification. Swedish Ambassador in Budapest Carl Ivan Danielsson (1880-1963) has signed as "Danielsson" at lower left. The form is party printed, partly typed, and also signed by the passport holder at the upper right. A small vintage black and white photograph of the passport holder is located in the upper right as well. Bearing two "Königl. Schwedische Gesandtschaft in Budapest" [Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest] hand-stamps. Docketed in blue ink verso. Double-hole punched along the left margin. Expected wear including folds and wrinkles, with isolated closed tears and holes found along the folds. Lightly toned, else very good to near fine. 8.25" x 13.375."

Schutz-Pass No. 85/64 was issued to "Frau Paul Vámosi geb. Katharina Szász" (a Germanized version of her Hungarian name, Katalin Szász Vámosi, also known as Palne Vámosi, or "Mrs. Pal Vámosi.") Katalin had just turned 25 years old about one month earlier, on August 16, 1944. The petite brunette was 4'9" tall and had gray eyes. She, along with her husband Pal Vámosi (born 1911), can both be found in the Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database curated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They are both listed as "Survivors" according to 1946 Budapest historical records. (See scans for reference.)

Raoul Wallenberg had been appointed Secretary of the Royal Swedish Legation in July 1944 at the request of various Jewish organizations. The "Swedish Schindler" was tasked with saving--through ingenious and diplomatic means alike--as many Hungarian Jews as he could from certain death. Wallenberg did so by allocating 32 buildings in Budapest as extraterritorial, thus allowing them to serve as Jewish safe houses; by distributing as many Swedish passports to members of the Budapest Jewry as possible. The Schutz-Pass, or "Wallenberg Passports" as they became known, offered invaluable protection to Jews by extending Swedish citizenship rights to them. The sovereignty of Sweden, then a neutral nation, as well as that of its citizens, both native-born and honorary, went unchallenged. Estimates vary as to how many Hungarian Jews Wallenberg and his team saved, but it is conservatively in the tens of thousands. Wallenberg was joined in his efforts by Carl Ivan Danielsson, who served as Swedish Ambassador in Budapest from 1944-1945.

The Wallenberg- and Danielsson-issued certificates were truly life-saving. The Nazis had occupied Hungary from March 1944, escalating their deportation of Hungarian Jews throughout that spring. At its peak, the Nazis were deporting approximately 12,000 Hungarian Jews each day to Auschwitz and other concentration and death camps. Nearly 500,000 Hungarian Jews had already been deported by the time Wallenberg's appointment began, with an estimated 220,000 Hungarian Jews left behind and in immediate danger.

Raoul Wallenberg chose to remain in Budapest when hundreds fled in advance of the encroaching Soviet Army, in order to safeguard the remaining Jews in the city. He was charged with espionage and disappeared after going to Soviet headquarters at Debrecen in mid-January 1945. Reports indicate that he died at Lubyanka Prison on July 17, 1947.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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