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World War II-dated DS in German and Hungarian, signed "R. Wallenberg," one page, 8.25 x 13.25, August 15, 1944. Ultra-early blue and gold two-language Schutz-Pass, "Nr. 0005," issued to "Dr. Ladislaus Vámbéri" of Budapest. Upper left provides his personal information including his 1901 birth date, height, eye, and hair color. Adjacent to his personal information is Spiegel's signature and affixed photograph. Bottom portion bears printed statements in German and Hungarian, neatly signed in the lower left corner by Wallenberg, and countersigned by Swedish Minister to Budapest, Carl Ivan Danielsson. In very good condition, with partial separations along the somewhat fragile intersecting folds.
Wallenberg arrived in Hungary in July 1944 as the country's Jewish population was under siege. Nearly every other major Jewish community in Europe had already been decimated, and the Nazis were dispatching more than 10,000 Hungarian Jews to the gas chambers daily. An announcement that any Jew, even those holding foreign citizenship, would be interred led to Wallenberg's urgent plan to save as many lives as he could. With time of the essence, he devised and distributed thousands of 'Schutzbrief' letters of protection and 'Schutz-Pass' passports—official-looking, but essentially invalid, Swedish passports granting the Hungarian bearer immunity from deportation. Nazi officials readily accepted the paperwork. Thus, with this pass, Wallenberg saved the life of Budapest resident Dr. Laszlo Vamberi, whose name is recorded in the Nevek Project's Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database.
Notably, since Wallenberg signed nearly all of the thousands of passes with a squiggle like ‘R,’ those with his full signature are extremely rare and sought after.
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