Letter of Protection, Angelo Rotta
1944 November 15, Front side - Letter of Protection for Riedl Emilné from Monsignor Angelo Rotta.
Tan letter with printed text in Hungarian using black ink. Cursive handwriting in Hungarian using blue ink is present as well. At the bottom right is a signature from Angelo Rotta in black ink. Directly to the left is a black ink overprint stamp from the Apostle of Budapest. The document is dated in the top left corner, 1944.
Name/Title
Letter of Protection, Angelo RottaEntry/Object ID
2016.1.1Scope and Content
1944 November 15, letter of protection for Riedl Emilné from Monsignor Angelo Rotta.Context
In May 1930, Angelo Rotta was assigned as the Papal Nuncio (equal in status to an Ambassador and diplomatic representative) for the Pope in Budapest, Hungary. Angelo Rotta was already expressing his concerns of Hungary’s treatment of the Jews by the time Pope Pius XII began his Papacy on March 2, 1939. Pope Pius XII is often evaluated by his silence, passivity, capacity to advocate for justice, or his motives while Rome existed precariously under Italy’s Dictator Mussolini and later when occupied by Germany. Exceptions to the silence included Angelo Rotta’s official May 15, 1944 protest to the Hungarian government and his later actions against deportations. In collaboration with Raoul Wallenberg, Carl Lutz and other diplomats from neutral countries, Rotta got permission from the Vatican to issues thousands of protection letters to Jewish converts (relaxing his prerequisite of Baptism). The letters allowed his “Jewish brothers” to live in apartment buildings under his protection. In November 1944, his apartments were combined with dozens of similar buildings establishing the “International Ghetto.” Tens of thousands of Jews were saved by collaborative efforts in creating various documents of immunity. In April 1945, Russia “instructed” Rotta to leave Hungary. He passed away in Rome in 1965. On July 16, 1997 Angelo Rotta was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations. The letter of protection dated November 15, 1944 was written for Jewish widow Riedl Emilné, maiden name Iren Fürédi. Signed by Angelo Rotta, the document enabled the widow's life to be saved and be transferred to the "International Ghetto.Collection
Righteous Among the NationsCategory
Letter
Philatelic Material