[WALLENBERG RAOUL]: (1912-1945)

[WALLENBERG RAOUL]: (1912-1945) Swedish architect, diplomat and humanitarian who served as Sweden's special envoy in Budapest from July - December 1944 during which time he was responsible for saving thousands of Jews in German-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust in the latter stages of World War II. A contemporary photographic (facsimile) copy of a World War II date Schutz-Pass, one page, folio (unfolded), Budapest, 30th August 1944. The original partially printed document (produced in the blue and yellow of Sweden's national colours), is reproduced here in monochrome and was perhaps retained by the original owner as a substitute in case of loss of the original, is a Schutz-Pass (a protective pass which, despite lacking the legal status of a conventional passport, effectively served to place its bearer under Swedish diplomatic protection), numbered 49/83 and issued to Aurel Föld, providing details of his date of birth (6th October 1877), eye and hair colour, and height, and reproducing his identification photograph bearing the oval ink stamp of the Royal Swedish Legation and his signature beneath. The printed text is in both German and Hungarian and states, in part (translated), ´The Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest confirms that the above-named person will travel to Sweden as part of the repatriation authorised by the Royal Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The person concerned is also included in a collective passport. Until departure, the above-named person and his apartment are under the protection of the Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest´, further confirming that the pass would expire fourteen days after the subject's entry into Sweden. The copy reproduces at the foot the characteristic abbreviated signature (´R´) used by Raoul Wallenberg on such documents, together with the countersignature of the Swedish diplomat Carl Ivan Danielsson (1880-1963), head of the Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest, and a further oval Legation stamp. The verso features various original official Hungarian stamps and manuscript endorsements dated September 1944, possibly certifying that the copy is an exact facsimile of the original. A highly evocative contemporary record of one of the protective documents employed in Wallenberg's celebrated campaign to save the Jews of Budapest from Nazi persecution and deportation. Significantly, the original Schutz-Pass issued to Aurel Föld is known to survive, enabling the present contemporary photographic copy to be directly identified with the document from which it was reproduced and providing an unusual surviving record of the administrative documentation associated with Wallenberg's rescue operations. Some overall creasing and various tears at the folds, FR

Wallenberg arrived in Budapest on 9th July 1944, at a moment when the great majority of Hungary's provincial Jewish population had already been deported, principally to Auschwitz-Birkenau, leaving Budapest's Jewish community in acute danger. He quickly expanded the Swedish Legation's programme of issuing Schutz-Pässe, distinctive protective documents identifying their bearers as persons under Swedish protection and awaiting repatriation. Although possessing no conventional validity under international law, their imposing appearance, diplomatic stamps and signatures helped persuade Hungarian and German officials to recognise them. Wallenberg complemented the passes with an extensive network of Swedish-protected houses and repeatedly intervened personally to prevent Jews from being deported or killed. His activities in Budapest became one of the most celebrated individual humanitarian rescue efforts of the Holocaust.