Provisional Passport for Ilona Gergely of Hungary Signed by Per Anger

Authors

Object ID

2021.1.91

Object Name

Passport

Date

7-20-1944

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

Provisional Passport for Ilona gergely of Budapest, Hungary signed by Per Anger.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Per Anger was a Swedish diplomat who served as secretary at the Swedish Legation in Budapest Hungary in 1942. Anger had already been exposed to the Nazi persecution of Jews, having worked previously at the Swedish Embassy in Berlin. In Budapest, he worked with Raoul Wallenberg, Carl Danielsson, and Valdemar Langlet of the Swedish Red Cross helping Jews avert deportation and internment. When Arrow Cross thugs began to terrorize Jews, Anger provided documents which identified the Jews in question as being under Swedish protection. He developed the idea of the provisional passport, which attested that the bearer would be respected as a Swedish citizen and thus would not have to wear the Star of David, which would mean deportation and death. Anger also issued special certificates to the many Jews who had applied for Swedish citizenship, allowing them to be recognized as Swedish citizens by the Hungarian government.

For putting his life at risk in an effort to save Hungarian Jews, Per Anger was recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" by the State of Israel and Yad Vashem in 1942.

Sadly, Ilona Gergely, pictured on the Per Anger-signed provisional passport, was nevertheless murdered in the Holocaust.

Dimensions

14 1/4 x 8 1/2"

Keywords

Per Anger, Arrow Cross, Ilona Gergely

Subcollection

Diplomats

Recommended Citation

"Provisional Passport for Ilona Gergely of Hungary Signed by Per Anger" (1944). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2021.1.91.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1795