Visa Issued By Warsaw Ghetto Commander
Visa Warsaw Ghetto Commander
At the first view this Lithuanian passport, or to be more exact “Safe Conduct”, shows a 27 yo woman but the back of the document reveals a German transit visa issued in May 1940 by the department of the “Chief of the District Warschau”, here “Passstelle” (passport office). The person in charge was Ludwig Fischer, who was not only in charge of the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw but also a convicted war criminal, hanged 1947 in Poland. I’ve never seen such a visa before and even it’s not signed by Fischer himself this visa is most rare to spot.

Appointment as Governor of the Warsaw District
After the 1939 Invasion of Poland, Fischer was appointed Governor of the Warsaw District in the occupied General Government (the area of Poland that was not formally annexed). He held this position until the withdrawal of the German forces from Warsaw in January 1945.
War Crimes
Fischer was directly responsible for a number of war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity. He was responsible for the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto, issued many anti-Semitic laws, as well as participating in the bloody Ghetto de-establishment and deportation. He was also responsible for terror in the occupied city, including mass executions, slave labor programs and deportation of Polish Jews to the various Nazi Concentration Camps.
Sentenced to Death
He was sentenced to death by the Special Courts of the Polish resistance movement for crimes against Polish citizens. His name was first on the list of “Operation Heads”—the serial assassinations of Nazi personnel by the Polish Resistance. Before the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, his car was shot at in Operation Hunting, but Fischer survived.
Following the defeat of the Warsaw Uprising, Fischer assumed a significant role in the Nazi Germany’s orchestrated scheme to devastate Warsaw. Additionally, he bore responsibility for the deplorable conditions within the temporary transit camp in Pruszków, designed to confine individuals expelled from the capital. Visa Warsaw Ghetto Commander
At the age of 41, Fischer was apprehended by the Allied forces following the war and subsequently transferred to Polish authorities. The Supreme National Tribunal conducted his trial, ultimately condemning him to death. During the proceedings in 1947, Jankiel Wiernik, a survivor of Treblinka and the Warsaw uprising, provided testimony against him.

Execution
He was executed by hanging in Warsaw’s Mokotów Prison. A 2013 National Geographic Channel documentary “Bloody Tales” claims that a film thought to be of the execution of the Nazi war criminal Amon Goeth is in fact that of Fischer’s execution.
Read more on Prosecution of Nazi Crimes in Poland in 1939–2004 and on the Warsaw Ghetto.
Visa Warsaw Ghetto Commander
Passport-collector.com is an extensive online platform dedicated to the study, preservation, and appreciation of passport history. Founded in 2010 by passport historian, editor & author - Tom Topol, the site offers a wealth of educational articles and resources that explore the origins and evolution of passports, their historical significance, and the impact of global events on travel documentation. With over 1000 meticulously researched articles, Passport-collector.com not only serves as an essential repository for collectors and historians but also provides insights into the role of passports in shaping national identity and cultural heritage. Passport history, passport collectors, collecting passports, passport fees, vintage passport collector, collectible documents, travel history, passport collection, diplomatic passport, passport office, celebrity passports, travel document, vintage passports for sale, old passports for sale, value of old passports, Reisepass, passport fees, most expensive passport in the world, passport colors, passport prices around the world, passport costs around the world, passport cost by country, cost of passports around the world, british visitor's passport, world passport prices, east german passport, passport fees by country, passport printers, passport printer, third reich passport,