Schutz-Pass Elisabeth Steinhardt, Raoul Wallenberg
1944 September 23, Front side - Visa for Elisabeth Steinhardt from Raoul Wallenberg in Sweden.
Tan visa with printed text in German and Hungarian using blue ink. At the top right is a black-and-white image of Elisabeth Steinhardt. She has a short dark haircut and is wearing a white blouse or dress. Four boxes outlined in blue borders contain yellow background appear with important information. At the center are three yellow and blue crowns. At the bottom center is a blue overprint stamp from the King of Sweden's office. A signature in pencil appears in the bottom right and a marking at the bottom left. At the top right are numbers in pencil.
Name/Title
Schutz-Pass Elisabeth Steinhardt, Raoul WallenbergEntry/Object ID
2012.1.1Scope and Content
1944 September 23, visa for Elisabeth Steinhardt from Raoul Wallenberg in Sweden.Context
Elisabeth Steinhardt from Budapest, Hungary on September 23, 1944 was one of the fortunate Jews to be issued a “protective passport” known in German as a Schutz-Pass that essentially granted her temporary citizenship of Sweden. The Schutz-Pass was a rescue plan initiated by Raoul Wallenberg and his staff that saved thousands of Jews from deportation to Auschwitz. The Schutz-Pass is a one page, 8.25 x 13.5 inch Blue and gold two-language (German and Swedish) form. The upper left side shows her March 7, 1888 birth date, height, eye and hair color. Adjacent to her personal information is a 1 x 1 clipped photo of Steinhardt, with her signature underneath. Bottom portion bears printed statements in German and Swedish, initialed at the bottom left by Wallenberg, and countersigned by a Swedish minister. Raoul quickly scribbled each Schutz-Pass with his famous “R” as he commonly did on documents of this type, due to the overwhelming number he needed to sign. Schutz-Passes are hard to find and what makes this one exceptional is that it is accompanied by an official copy of the Elisabeth Steinhardt Schutz-Pass that was kept at the Swedish legation (mission) office. The reverse side shows the original authorization signatures and official copy ink stamp. Raoul was born into a wealthy family in Sweden. Well-traveled and educated (Univ. of Michigan, 1935) Raoul started his successful business career with jobs in Cape Town, South Africa and Haifa (Palestine, 1936). He was to become a celebrated Righteous Among the Nations for his work in saving thousands of Hungarian Jews and just as famous for the mysterious circumstances of his January 1945 arrest and death behind the Soviet Iron Curtain. By July 1944 through a series of business travels between Sweden, Hungary, Germany and family diplomatic contacts, Raoul was appointed to head the Swedish legation in Budapest, Hungary with a primary mission of rescuing Jews. Beginning in May 1944 the German Nazi plan to exterminate Jews focused on Hungary. By July most of the 400,000 Jews deported went to Auschwitz-Birkenau, leaving about 230,000 Jews in jeopardy. Expanding on the May 1944 Swedish Red Cross “Schutzbrief,” together with Per Anger, another Swedish diplomat, Raoul issued thousands of protective documents, in German called a “Schutz-Pass.” The Schutz-Pass acted as a passport and the holder became a citizen of Sweden. Raoul then arranged to rent temporary housing (deemed Swedish official property) for thousands of Jews prior to them using the Schutz-Pass to flee Hungary. At the peak of the rescue plan, at least 300 people were involved in the rescue but Raoul was feeling the heat from all sides: The Germans, the strong number of Hungarians submissive/loyal to Germany, and the Russians who were closing in on Budapest. On January 17, 1945 Raoul was asked to report to Russian headquarters and was never seen again! Despite strong Russian denials, sightings of Raoul in prisons persisted even into the 1970’s.Collection
Righteous Among the NationsCategory
Visa
Philatelic Material