Baranovich Online

Swiss Schutz-Pass‭ - ‬Budapest‭, ‬1944‭ - ‬for Jenõ Schück

The auction will start in __ days and __ hours

Start price: $400

Estimated price: $500 - $700

Buyer's premium:

Schutz-Pass, a Swiss protective passport for Jews during World War II, issued to Jenõ Schück. Budapest. 1944. [1] p., 29.5 x 20.5 cm.

Certified copy (in November 1944) of a Schutz-Pass, a Swiss letter of protection, stamped and dated: 23 October 1944, to Jenõ Schück, to prevent his deportation by the Nazis. On the reverse side is the stamped certification by an authorized notary.

At the height of the war, there was a great deal of rescue activity on the part of the Swiss diplomats in Budapest. The consulate issued Schutz-Passes to many Jews, stating that “the Department of External Affairs of the Swiss consulate affirmed that the bearer appeared in the collective Swiss registry and was to be classified as the holder of a valid passport.״ Incredibly, these passes were honored by the Nazis in Hungary, which afforded the holders a relative measure of security.

The holder of this pass was Jenõ Schück, later the Chief Orthodox Rabbi of Budapest in the years 1965–67. He was an expert Jewish historian and was invited as a guest lecturer to Yeshiva University, although the Communist government initially refused to allow him to visit the U.S. Explanatory material is included.

The certificate is in very good condition.