Schutz-Pass ["Protective passport"], granted to Irene Homoki (Schwarcz), on behalf of the Swedish ambassador on 22 September 1944. German and Hungarian.
The "Protective passport" testifies that its holder is under the protection of the State of Sweden. Signed by hand by Carl Ivan Danielsson, the Swedish ambassador, with two stamps of the Swedish embassy in Budapest, and with another signature (quick and formless) - in the hand of Raoul Wallenberg.The activity of the Swedish ambassador in Budapest to help the Jews began just a short while after the 1944 German occupation of Hungary. The Swedish ambassador, Danielsson, issued Swedish temporary passports for Hungarian Jews who had family or commercial ties with Swedish subjects. In July 1944, after many of the Hungarian Jews had already been deported to Auschwitz, Raoul Wallenberg was sent to Budapest by the Swedish foreign ministry to help assist the Jews who were still left in the city.
The Hungarian and German authorities usually respected the authority of the Swedish ambassador, and Wallenberg managed to issue thousands of "protective passports" which protected the Jews, even though they weren't valid by law. Wallenberg also acted in other ways to save the Hungarian Jews. Part of this activity was the establishment of safe-houses for Jews, and attempts to pressure senior members of the Nazi regime to stop the transportation of Jews to Auschwitz. According to testimonies, he would arrive at the train station where the Jews were all gathered before a transport to Auschwitz, demanding to release those holding "protective passports". In 1966 Raoul Wallenberg was proclaimed by Yad Vashem as one of the "Righteous among the Nations".
Leaf, 34 cm. Fair condition. Creases and folding marks. Tears to folding lines and margins. Vertical folding line reinforced with two pieces of adhesive tape (old). Pencil inscriptions on leaf verso.