Swedish diplomat and humanitarian (1912–1947?). After training as an architect at the University of Michigan, Wallenberg entered the import-export business. In 1944, through his business contacts, Wallenberg became First Secretary to the Swedish legation in Budapest. In this capacity he embarked on a tireless effort to save the scores of Hungarian Jews who were being deported to death camps at the rate of thousands per day. With the arrival of the Red Army in Budapest in January 1945, Wallenberg was arrested by the Soviets on suspicion of being a spy for the United States. After he was transferred to a prison in the USSR, Wallenberg disappeared. Though much-disputed official Soviet reports date his death to 1947, other research has suggested that he lived as long as the late 1980s, and researchers continue to search for the truth behind his ultimate fate. Rare partly printed and typed DS, in German and Hungarian, signed “R. Wallenberg” as Secretary of the Royal Swedish Embassy in Budapest, on an 8 x 13.25 sheet folded to make four approximately 4 x 6.5 panels, August 23, 1944. A two-language “Employment Certificate.” In full (translated): “The Royal Swedish Embassy herewith certifies that Mrs. Julius Heller, née Flora Hegedüs, is in steady employment with the Repatriation Department of the Embassy, as well as with the Swedish Red Cross. Budapest, August 23, 1944....” Heller has signed beneath her affixed photo; the document also bears several Royal Swedish Embassy ink stamps. Wallenberg signed the present document during the six-month period (beginning in July 1944) in which he devised and distributed thousands of “Schutzpasses,” a special official-looking (but essentially invalid) Swedish passport that granted the bearer immunity from deportation to death camps. As another of many creative measures devised to save Hungarian Jews, Wallenberg also opened an office in Budapest staffed with 400 Jewish volunteers who were issued “Employment Passes,” similar to the present document, granting them diplomatic immunity. This makeshift workforce was instrumental in assisting the overextended Wallenberg, who clearly recognized the urgency of their task in a memo titled “Concerning the Jews in Hungary,” drafted in the same month: “Rumors concerning the imminent deportation of the remaining Jews in Budapest continue to circulate, and August 28 [five days after the date of the present item] is said to be the starting date of the operation…. The earlier guarantee that Jews holding foreign citizenship would not be interned before September 30 has been rescinded, and the foreign legations in Budapest have been alerted to the fact that internment is scheduled for the 26th of this month…. Now that … protective documents have been issued, KEOKH [the state-run agency for surveillance of foreign citizens] tells us that [exemption] privileges will only be granted if a Schutzpass is issued….” The scene in Wallenberg’s offices is starkly described by a woman who aided in the efforts, as recounted in the biography Raoul Wallenberg by Harvey Rosenfeld: “We had to work around the clock because there was no other choice. Wallenberg set the tempo for those who worked with him. There were many times that we lay on the floor for an hour’s nap….” Mild soiling and handling wear, and official ink stamp to first two letters of signature (not affecting legibility), otherwise fine condition. American Book Prices Current documents only a single Wallenberg-signed item at auction in the last quarter century. A stirring and elusive treasure from this most resourceful and revered of humanitarians! JSA/John Reznikoff Auction LOA and RRAuction COA
