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"Protection certificate" (Skyddsbrev) issued by the Swedish Red Cross to Géza Hochfelder. Budapest, 1944. Hungarian, German and some Swedish.
"Protection certificate" indicating that its owner is under the protection of the Swedish Red Cross. At the bottom of the third page, beneath the names of the owner and his family members, appears the handwritten signature of the Righteous among the Nations Valdemar Langlet.
This "protection certificate", designed like a passport, was diplomatically invalid (the Red Cross organization was not authorized to grant protection and international law did not require the various countries to honor its decisions). Nevertheless, the issuer of the certificate, the chairman of the Swedish Red Cross in Hungary Valdemar Langlet, was able to convince the authorities that they must take into consideration the protection certificates he had granted, and throughout the war, issued thousands of documents of this kind. In order to increase the "official" impression of these certificates, their covers were designed to resemble a passport (with a red cross in its center and the title in three languages), the leaves were stamped with various stamps and a string in the colors of the Swedish nation – yellow and blue – was threaded between them.
Presumably, this certificate was designated to grant protection to its owner's wife, Margit Kohn, and their 12-year-old daughter, Maria, as well. Appearing on the fourth page are the personal details of the owner, and on the rest of the pages, forms for extending the protection (blank). The certificate is numbered 309/944.
Valdemar Langlet (1872-1960), a journalist, diplomat and an early Esperantist. In 1932, he was hired as a lecturer by the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. With the change of the political situation in Hungary, Langlet and his wife, Nina Borovko, decided to offer assistance to their persecuted acquaintances (Jews and non-Jews alike), and dedicated themselves to this cause. At first, they only assisted their acquaintances, but gradually extended their humanitarian work until it became an enterprise that rescued thousands. In March 1944, Langlet succeeded in being appointed the chairman of the Swedish Red Cross, and although the position did not give him any real authority, he started issuing thousands of protection certificates to the persecuted. In order to give the impression that these documents were valid, Langlet used his talent, connections and reputation to design official-looking documents. For his actions to save Jews during the Holocaust, Langlet was recognized, in 1965, as Righteous Among the Nations.
8 pp, 15 cm. Good condition. Stains and creases. Peeling marks to second page (possibly, a photograph or mounted piece of paper were removed from this page). Pencil notations to last page and inside back cover. Abrasions and minor blemishes to cover (mostly to spine and corners).