Scarce US Consulate Lisbon Passport 1943

US Embassies and Consulates during WWII US Consulate Lisbon 1943

There is hardly a country in Europe that was not temporarily occupied by German troops between October 1938 and May 1945 or at least influenced by the Nazi regime. In September 1939, the State Department invalidated all US passports for travel to Europe-which meant that Americans traveling there had to visit a consulate periodically to have their passport revalidated often, it was only revalidated for the direct return home.

The breakdown of diplomatic relations by Germany started in 1941. On December 11, the German government announced the severance of diplomatic ties and declared war on the United States. Following this announcement by Germany, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called on the US Congress, “to acknowledge that war has broken out between the United States and Germany.” US Consulate Lisbon 1943

The passport has the No.14 when issued on March 11, 1943, by the vice-consul to Lourdes Jesus Duarte and her Twin brothers! Lourdes was born in 1926, which makes her only 17 years young. The age of the boys is not mentioned but according to the passport picture, they might have been around 14/15 years young. The endorsement on page seven shows that the passport was valid only to return to the USA, valid only for two month-until May 1943. Page nine has another Lisbon Legation stamp. Page eleven shows a Portuguese visa.

The following pages 12/13 showing two passport renewals, both from May 22, 1946, but one extension says until March 11, 1946, and the other says until November 22, 1946. Vice consul then was Worthington.E.Hagerman from Carmel, Indiana. Finally, page 15 shows the exit stamps from Portugal on May 6, 1946, going back home to the United States (no stamp on arriving in the USA). What an adventure for the young girl and the boys.

Worthington.E.Hagerman was appointed clerk at the American Consulate General in Paris in 1919 and from then on at several posts in France, Bordeaux, and Lisbon.

Only neutral countries like Argentina, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey had still functional US embassies/consulates.

Here is an overview of the closure dates of US embassies/consulates. US Consulate Lisbon 1943

Amsterdam–closed July 10, 1941
Antwerp–closed July 15, 1940
Brussels–closed July 15, 1940
Bordeaux–closed June 15, 1941
Paris–closed October 21, 1940
Vichy–opened  July 1941, closed about November 8, 1942–Note:  Vichy did not issue any passports or visas–customers were told to go to Marseille for services.
Lyon—-closed November 8, 1942
Marseille–closed November 8, 1942
Prague–closed March 21, 1939
Rome–closed June 30, 1941
Genoa–closed July 9, 1941
Naples–February 28, 1941
Venice–Closed June 30, 1941
Warsaw–closed July 15, 1941
Budapest–closed December 11, 1941
Vienna– Consulate General closed July 9, 1941
Berlin–closed July 15, 1941
Bremen–closed July 10, 1941
Stuttgart–closed July 2, 1941
Munich–closed July 15, 1941
Cologne–closed August 11, 1941
Dresden–closed July 10, 1941
Frankfurt–closed July 15, 1941
Hamburg–closed July 9, 1941
Leipzig–closed August 14, 1941

In Southeast Asia, things were also complicated, depending on the location. US Consulate Lisbon 1943

Hong Kong–closed December 31, 1941
Manila–closed September 3, 1943 (unclear if this is the closure date, but is the date the consular officers were evacuated on the SS Gripsholm)
Singapore–closed February 9, 1942
Bangkok–closed January 25, 1942
Tokyo–closed December 7, 1941
Kobe–closed December 7, 1941
Nagasaki–closed June 30, 1941
Osaka–December 8, 1941
Yokohama–closed December 7, 1941
Beijing–closed December 7, 1941
Dalian–closed December 8, 1941
Fuzhou–closed January 31, 1942
Guangzhou–closed December 7, 1941
Guilin–opened May 21, 1943, closed September 11, 1944
Harbin–closed December 8, 1941
Hankou–closed December 7, 1941
Jinan–closed December 7, 1941
Macau–closed December 24, 1941
Nanjing–closed December 7, 1941
Shanghai–December 8, 1941
Batavia (Jakarta)–Closed December 27, 1942
Medan–closed February 16, 1942
Surabaya–closed February 22, 1942 US Consulate Lisbon 1943

Please note, though, that the posts across the rest of the globe (the Americas, Africa, India, etc.) were not affected and remained in operation.  However, given that the whole country was focused on the war effort, there would not have been much in the way of leisure travel going on. Americans traveling in those regions either had a good reason for doing so or were already expats, eliminating the need for more passports, which is most probably a reason why they are so scarce, especially from that era and these locations.

Many thanks to Lindsay H. from the State Department to provide me with such detailed information, which makes the evaluation of passports from this time much more accurate. The above-displayed passport from the US Legation in Lisbon in 1943 (neutral Portugal), is the only beautiful and outstanding example I could get into my collection.

US Consulate Lisbon 1943

Passport history, vintage passport collector, collectible documents, travel history, i94 travel history, passport collection, passport, diplomatic passport, passport office, famous people passports, celebrity passports, vintage passport, travel document, vintage passports for sale, old passports for sale, value of old passports, Reisepass, Reisepasskosten, passport fees,