RAOUL WALLENBERG, SIGNED 1944 PASSPORT DOCUMNET

A signed Hungarian document by "The Royal Swedish Ambassador" Raoul Wallenberg with the letterhead "Royal Swedish Embassy Budapest", dated September 22, 1944. The document in full: "To the Central National Authority for Controlling Foreigners, Budapest. We have the pleasure of informing you that the Royal Swedish Embassy in Budapest has issued a protective passport for Mrs. Zsigmond Simkó, pursuant to which the above-named person should be considered a Swedish subject. The Embassy respectfully requests an exemption from wearing the distinctive sign with regard to the person named. The Embassy confirms that the reciprocity outlined in the respective Order is applicable in Sweden."

The document is marked with the stamp of the Royal Swedish Embassy and confirms that the recipient, Mrs. Zsigmond Simkó, has been awarded Swedish citizenship. In 1944, reports about the mass deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz became public. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who spoke fluent Hungarian, was chosen as an American ambassador to lead a top-secret relief mission in Hungary. Wallenberg was set to issue fake passports for the Jews, claiming that they were Swedish citizens. Thus, their lives would be saved. In early 1945, Wallenberg was captured by the Germans, and it wasn't until 2016 that the Swedish government declared him dead. Reports state that Wallenberg saved 15,000 Jews before he was captured.

Although the vast majority of documentation from Wallenberg's heroic act is destroyed, offered here is an extremely rare example that has survived. This is the only one of its kind owned in private hands.

Size: Approximately 8 x 6 in. / 20 x 15 cm, unframed.

Condition: Fine condition; one vertical fold; some handling creases.

Provenance: Private collection, USA. Letter of authenticity from Alexander Bitar History.