Letter of Protection issued to three members of the Herczog family. Prepared by <<Alberto Carlos de Liz-Teixeira Branquinho>> with his stamped signature and endorsement as Consulado de Portugal em Budapest.

<<A highly scarce Protection document issued by the Portuguese Consulate of Budapest during the Holocaust.>> Carlos de Liz-Teixeira Branquinho (1902-73) was the Portuguese Chargé d’Affaires in Budapest in 1944. Witnessing the horrifying, wholesale deportations to Auschwitz, he persuaded the neutral Portuguese government to issue safe conduct passes to any Hungarian Jew who had relatives in Portugal, Brazil, or one the Portuguese colonies. Branquinho was authorized to issue 500 safe conducts, but in fact issued some 800 of them, often to individuals with just the barest connection with Portugal. He established several safe houses to shelter the protected Jews, and despite constant raids by the Hungarian Arrow Cross, these houses, under the protection of the Portuguese legation, remained relatively safe until the end of the war. Altogether about 1,000 lives were saved due to his actions. See Portuguese Diplomatic Institute / Historical and Diplomatic Archive. Spared Lives: The Actions of Three Portuguese Diplomats in World War II. Documentary Exhibition Catalogue (2000). http://vidaspoupadas.idiplomatico.pt/en/. <<Exceptionally rare document, only 800 of which were issued. >>