Auction 87 - Jewish and Israeli Art, History and Culture
Including: sketches by Ze'ev Raban and Bezalel items, hildren's books, avant-garde books, rare ladino periodicals, and more
"Protective Letter" Issued by the Vatican – Hand Signed by Angelo Rotta, Righteous Among the Nations, Budapest, 1944
Opening: $1,000
Sold for: $1,500
Including buyer's premium
"Oltalomlevel" ("protective letter") issued to a Jew by the name of Gábor Leichter by the diplomatic mission of the Vatican in Budapest on November 9, 1944. Hungarian.
Protective letter, printed, declaring that the State of the Vatican has extended its protection to the letter's bearer. Marked with the inked stamp of the diplomatic mission of the Vatican in Budapest, Hungary, and hand signed by the representative of the Holy See, Angelo Rotta.
Angelo Rotta (1872-1965) was an Italian priest who, during the Second World War, served as the "Nuncio Apostolico" or apostolic nuncio – the official diplomatic representative of the Holy See, a role equal in rank and function to an ambassador – of Hungary. As the official representative of the Catholic Church, Rotta exerted all the influence at his disposal to protecting Jews from harm; he did all he could to halt the running of the deportation trains, and informed Pope Pius XII of developments at every stage – actions that, in all likelihood, compelled the Pope to send a telegram to Miklós Horthy, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, who in turn ordered a temporary halt the deportation trains in June of 1944. Following the Nazi German invasion of Hungary, Rotta managed to obtain the official permission of the Church to issue protective letters on behalf of Jews – permission that was originally granted restrictedly to converts to Christianity, but was then extended by Rotta to apply to all applicants – and thus saved the lives of thousands of people. In the final days of the war, through the representative of the Red Cross, Rotta dispatched signed protective letters to deportees in the Death Marches, thus preventing the transfer of Jews from Hungary to Nazi German territory. In recognition of his noble efforts and accomplishments in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust, Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center bestowed upon Angelo Rotta the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" in 1997.
1 f., 29.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines and creases. Few stains. Minor marginal tears, and small hole at intersection of fold lines.
Protective letter, printed, declaring that the State of the Vatican has extended its protection to the letter's bearer. Marked with the inked stamp of the diplomatic mission of the Vatican in Budapest, Hungary, and hand signed by the representative of the Holy See, Angelo Rotta.
Angelo Rotta (1872-1965) was an Italian priest who, during the Second World War, served as the "Nuncio Apostolico" or apostolic nuncio – the official diplomatic representative of the Holy See, a role equal in rank and function to an ambassador – of Hungary. As the official representative of the Catholic Church, Rotta exerted all the influence at his disposal to protecting Jews from harm; he did all he could to halt the running of the deportation trains, and informed Pope Pius XII of developments at every stage – actions that, in all likelihood, compelled the Pope to send a telegram to Miklós Horthy, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, who in turn ordered a temporary halt the deportation trains in June of 1944. Following the Nazi German invasion of Hungary, Rotta managed to obtain the official permission of the Church to issue protective letters on behalf of Jews – permission that was originally granted restrictedly to converts to Christianity, but was then extended by Rotta to apply to all applicants – and thus saved the lives of thousands of people. In the final days of the war, through the representative of the Red Cross, Rotta dispatched signed protective letters to deportees in the Death Marches, thus preventing the transfer of Jews from Hungary to Nazi German territory. In recognition of his noble efforts and accomplishments in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust, Israel's Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center bestowed upon Angelo Rotta the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" in 1997.
1 f., 29.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines and creases. Few stains. Minor marginal tears, and small hole at intersection of fold lines.