Sometimes documents look quite ordinary on the first view but turn out to be real treasures on a second, more in-depth look. This happened with this passport of the Federal German Republic from May 1951. A passport-type which was established just that…

This green service passport (German: Dienstpass) was issued to Dr. Richard Burmester, Commercial Attache at the German Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I spotted the document on eBay and put it on my watchlist. The auction ended, and I was…

The following document came into my collection through a reader’s contact. Paul Murray sent me a message last year and wanted to know more details about this type of passport. King’s Messenger passport This King’s Messenger passport once belonged to…

The following passport belonged to a dedicated collector of Napoleonic period items who bought it because of an early signature of a man who becomes later well know by the name TALLEYRAND. US Legation Paris passport The United States passport…

Director of the German Friedrich Krupp AG heavy industry conglomerate from 1909 until 1941. He and his son Alfried would lead the company through two world wars, producing almost everything for the German war machine from U-boats, battleships, howitzers, trains,…

This Polish diplomatic passport from 1935 was issued for Krystyna Rogalska, daughter of consul Mieczysław Rogalski. Rogalski was a member of the Polish Military Organization from 1914. After Poland regained independence, he entered the diplomatic service. From 1928–1939, he worked…

1939 Poland was an ominous place for a Jew. After the Nazi invasion that started World War II, the country was divided, with Germany claiming the western half and Soviet Russia claiming the eastern half. Neither of these occupiers was…

You see here a marvelous travel document from British Jamaica issued to a young soldier in uniform in 1953, well before Jamaicas’ independence in 1962. Attractive are also the revenue stamps on page one. His passport was valid for the…

Intelligence combines information and understanding. In spring 1952, an unexpected piece of information rippled through the international postwar intelligence community: Walter Schellenberg, the head of Nazi Germany’s political foreign intelligence service, Amt VI of Heinrich Himmler’s Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) – Office…