Bidspirit auction | “Letter of Protection” Issued by

“Letter of Protection” Issued by the Vatican — Signed by Righteous Among the Nations Angelo Rotta Budapest, 1944 - Oltalomlevél (Letter of Protection) granted to the Jew NADEL ARMIN JÓZSEF by the Vatican representation in the city of Budapest, 9 November 1944. Hungarian. [1] Leaf, 29.5 cm. Condition: Good. Folding marks and creases. A printed letter of protection declaring that the State of the Vatican has extended its protection to the bearer. Signed with the ink stamp of the Vatican Legation in Budapest and with the handwritten signature of the representative of the Holy See, Angelo Rotta. Angelo Rotta (1872–1965) was an Italian Catholic priest who served during the Second World War as Apostolic Nuncio to Hungary (Nuncio Apostolico—the diplomatic representative of the Holy See, equivalent in rank to an ambassador). As a representative of the Catholic Church, Rotta exerted his full influence to prevent harm to Jews, worked to halt deportation trains, and kept Pope Pius XII informed of developments at every stage—actions that likely led to the telegram sent by the Pope to the Hungarian regent Miklós Horthy, which resulted in a temporary suspension of the deportations in June 1944. After the German invasion of Hungary, Rotta succeeded in obtaining authorization from the Church to issue letters of protection for Jews—authorization that had originally been intended only for converts to Christianity, but which Rotta granted broadly to all who sought it—thereby saving the lives of thousands. In the final days of the war, he sent signed letters of protection via representatives of the Red Cross to the death marches, preventing the transfer of Jews from Hungary into Nazi-controlled German territory. For his actions in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust, Angelo Rotta was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1997.