DS in German and Hungarian, quickly signed in ink, “R” (as typical on documents of this type), one page, 8.25 x 13.25, August 26, 1944. Blue and gold two-language Schutz-Pass issued to Franz Halasz. The upper left section is filled out in type with personal information including his 1893 birth date, height, and eye and hair color. Affixed adjacent to his personal information is a passport-style photo bearing an official ink stamp. The bottom portion bears printed statements in German and Hungarian, briskly signed in the lower left corner by Wallenberg, and countersigned by Swedish Minister to Budapest Carl Ivan Danielsson. In very good condition, with central vertical and horizontal folds with a pinhole at the intersection, small edge separations at folds, and some scattered creases. Accompanied by a related document bearing a stamped Wallenberg signature.
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 their deaths daily. With time of the essence, he devised and distributed thousands of these ‘Schutz-Passes’—official-looking, but essentially invalid, Swedish passports granting the Hungarian bearer immunity from deportation. Nazi officials readily accepted the paperwork. Thus, with his simple, nondescript scribble on this Schutz-Pass, Wallenberg saved Franz Halasz—an important reminder of one heroic man’s tireless efforts to outwit the Nazis and save countless lives. Pre-certified PSA/DNA.
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