Description:

RAOUL WALLENBERG
(1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945) Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat, and humanitarian. He saved thousands of Jews in German-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust from German Nazis and Hungarian fascists during the later stages of World War II through his issue of protective passports and by sheltering Jews in buildings he declared as Swedish territory. Most rare and desirable war-date D.S. as Secretary of the Swedish legation, signed with his initial 'R' as was often the case, 1p. 4to. in German and Hungarian, a Schutz-Pass or protective passport issued by the Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest, Hungary on Sep. 26, 1944. At first, Wallenberg signed these documents in full, then as time passed and to avoid his identification, his 'mark' devolved into what is seen on this document. Swedish Ambassador in Budapest Carl Ivan Danielsson (1880-1963) has also signed at lower left, his safety better protected by his diplomatic position. The form is issued to Katharina Szasz, a Budapest-born Jew whose briefly described particular details appear at the upper-left, beside her small candid portrait. Beneath, printed text indicates that the holder is authorized repatriation to Sweden...[and] is also entered in a collective passport. Until departure, the above and his apartment are under the protection of the Royal Swedish Embassy...' The document also bears two legation hand stamps and the bearer's signature. Docketed in blue ink on verso. Holes punched along the left margin, folds, and a few negligible fold tears. Szasz had just turned 25 years old about one month earlier, on August 16, 1944. She, along with her husband Pal Vamosi (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. The Wallenberg 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, 12,000 Hungarian Jews were deported 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. Wallenberg chose to remain in Budapest in order to safeguard the remaining Jews in the city. He was charged by the Soviets with espionage and disappeared in January, 1945, believed to have died at Lubyanka Prison on July 17, 1947. A great rarity.

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January 25, 2023 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $999,999 $10,000
$1,000,000 $1,999,999 $50,000
$2,000,000 + $100,000