Lot 362

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Description:

R. Wallenberg Signed Schutz-Pass Doc, With Rare Full Signature

A 1p document in Hungarian, functioning as a Schutz-Pass or protective passport, issued by the Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest, Hungary on September 22, 1944. The document is boldly signed by Secretary of the Royal Swedish Legation Raoul Wallenberg (1912-1945) in a rare full signature at lower right. The paperwork is party printed, partly typed. Bearing one "Königl. Schwedische Gesandtschaft in Budapest" [Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest] hand stamp located to the left of Wallenberg's signature. Expected wear including light even toning and flatted transmittal folds. A barely noticeable closed tear corresponding to the central horizontal fold, and not affecting any text or the signature, has been expertly mended verso. Two partly rusted paperclip impressions along the top margin, and scattered isolated wrinkled edges, else near fine. 8.125" x 5.75."

A nearly identical document signed by Raoul Wallenberg sold at our November 11, 2020 sale for $7,500 including the buyer's premium.

This document was issued to Miss Zsuzsanna Steiner (her full name in Hungarian was recorded as "Steiner Zsuzsanna urnő" with "úrnő" signifying "miss" or an unmarried status.)

The document is partly translated as:

"To the National Central Authority Supervising Foreigners, Budapest.

We are pleased to inform you that the Royal Swedish Legation in Budapest has issued a protective passport to

Steiner Zsuzsanna urnő

according to which the above-named person must be considered a Swedish citizen. The Legation kindly requests that the above-named individual be exempt from wearing the distinguishing symbol. The Legation certifies that the reciprocity mentioned in the relevant regulation exists with Sweden.

Budapest, 1944. Sept. 22."

We have found no fewer than four candidates for Zsuzsanna Steiner in the Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database curated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Three of these four candidates were indeed young, ranging in age from between 3 to 23 years old, while the fourth viable candidate does not have a listed birth date. 15-year-old Zsuzsanna Steiner, born in 1929, might be an especially interesting candidate, as she is listed as being a deported person brought to Sweden in accordance with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration procedures. This piece deserves hours of additional dedicated research!

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; and 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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December 14, 2022 11:00 AM EST
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000