840.48 Refugees/12–2144: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Sweden (Johnson)
2566. The cable below is WRB 273. Amembassy Madrid reports that Spanish Chargé d’Affaires left Budapest, and that there being now no Spanish diplomatic representative in Hungary, protection of Spanish interests there has been turned over informally to Swedish Legation.
In this connection, please endeavor to convey to Swedish representatives in Budapest the following information:
Spanish letters of protection have been issued to 2,300 Budapest Jews and 570 Jews, including 500 children, are in possession of visas to Spain and Spanish Morocco. Furthermore, Spanish Legation in Budapest was authorized to grant visas to 700 more Budapest Jews. Authentic information from Budapest dated October 23 indicates that several categories of Jews in Budapest, in possession of protective documents and visas from foreign governments, have been exempted from general treatment reserved for Hungarian Jews, excluded from deportation to labor camps, and held in Budapest under agreement with German authorities who are ready to grant them transit visas enabling them to leave Axis territory. But none of the Jews with Spanish papers or visas are mentioned as being accorded this special treatment except one family consisting of three persons.
Any action of Swedish Legation in Budapest to extend protection and special treatment to all Jews with Spanish papers and visas will be greatly appreciated.61
- In reply, Minister Johnson indicated in telegram 5293, December 29, 7 p.m., that the Swedish Foreign Office informed him that for the time being there was no means of communicating with the Swedish Legation in Budapest (840.48 Refugees/12–2944).↩