The entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Image by Getty

(JTA) — Poland has obtained a World War II-era archive that documents efforts by Polish diplomats to get Jews out of Europe by issuing fake passports from Latin American countries.

The Eiss archive shows that 330 people survived the Holocaust due to the efforts of the Polish diplomats based in Switzerland, and another 387 were killed despite having the forged passports. The fate of 430 others is not known.

Poland’s Culture Ministry and the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum negotiated with a private owner in Israel for the archive for the past year, the museum said Monday in a statement.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The statement calls the archive “irrefutable proof that Poles, the Polish state, and its representatives systemically and institutionally were involved in saving Jews during World War II.”

“The activities of the then-Polish diplomats in Switzerland, newly discovered and documented, can be an inspiration for historians, but also for writers, filmmakers, and creators of culture,” it said.

The rescue effort was led by the Polish ambassador to Switzerland, Aleksander Lados, as well as three other Polish diplomats and two representatives of Jewish organizations.

The collection includes eight of the false Paraguayan passports; photos of Jews requesting the passports; and letters between the Polish diplomats and Jewish organizations. It also includes a list of Jewish children in Warsaw orphanages.

The documents, which will be displayed at first in Bern, Switzerland, will become part of the collection at the Auschwitz museum next year. They will be subject to conservation and thoroughly analyzed by archivists and historians once they arrive at the museum.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount