The Premiere of the “Passports to Life” Exhibition in Israel - Instytut Pileckiego
16.12.2019 (Mon)
The Premiere of the “Passports to Life” Exhibition in Israel
Acting in cooperation with the Polish Institute in Tel Aviv, the Pilecki Institute organized an exhibition entitled “Passports to Life” about the group headed by Aleksander Ładoś. The exposition can be viewed at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.
It comprises reproductions of passports, documents, photographs, letters and other correspondence from the Chaim Eiss Archive. These document copies were made from originals which are held in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
– The exhibition in Jerusalem, along with our most recent publication, will allow us to present the scale of activities of the so-called Ładoś Group, which remains relatively unknown. The Group itself was made up of Polish diplomats based in Switzerland who conducted a secret operation which succeeded in saving the lives of thousands of Jews – sentenced to perish in the Nazi Holocaust that engulfed the countries of occupied Europe, among them Poland. Purchases were made of original empty forms issued by certain Latin American states, which were then falsified at the Legation of the Republic of Poland in Bern. The ready passports were smuggled to various locations, including ghettos, to buy time and improve chances of survival for people who would otherwise have assuredly been murdered in the German death camps – said Eryk Habowski, the Chief Expert of the Pilecki Institute.
The opening of the exhibition, which took place on Sunday, 15 December, was attended by, among others, Marek Magierowski – the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Israel, Jakub Kumoch – the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Switzerland, Markus Blechner – the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Zurich, Herzl Makov – the Director of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, Anna Gutkowska – the Deputy Director of the Pilecki Institute, Mateusz Szpytma – the Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance, and Agnieszka Jędrzak – the Head of the International Section at the Office of the President of the Institute of National Remembrance. Eryk Habowski, the Chief Expert of the Pilecki Institute, gave a talk on the occasion, focusing on the activities of Aleksander Ładoś and the Polish Government-in-Exile. It was followed by a discussion panel with the participation of Markus Blechner and John Cornell from the Pilecki Institute. The meeting was chaired by Patrick Ney.
The “Passports to Life” exhibition is in Hebrew and will run until 5 February 2020. Entrance is free of charge.
The Activities of Aleksander Ładoś
Ambassador Ładoś, who during World War II served the Polish Government-in-Exile as its representative in Switzerland, instructed his personnel to falsify documents issued by third countries in an attempt to save at least some of Poland’s Jewish community. The “Ładoś passports” were intended to rescue their bearers from the Holocaust. The documents were sent to ghettos and camps throughout occupied Poland and Holland, and also to a great number of citizens of other European countries. Nearly one half of the papers certifying Paraguayan citizenship were forged by Konstanty Rokicki, the Vice-Consul, while the remainder were probably authored by Stefan Ryniewicz with the help of an embassy employee, Julisz Kühl. Some of the documents, passports and certifications of citizenship of Honduras, Haiti and Peru were purchased with the Ambassador’s consent by two Jewish activists, Abraham Silberschein and Chaim Eiss, who were also members of the Group. The entire operation received the support of the Polish government, which pressured representatives of Latin American states to recognize the falsified documents for humanitarian reasons.
In December 2019, the Pilecki Institute issued “The Ładoś list. A register of persons in whose names the Legation of the Republic of Poland and Jewish organizations in Switzerland made out Latin American passports during World War II”. The publication, which enumerates 3,262 people who benefited from the operation and whose identities have been determined to date, is the result of research performed by employees of the Polish Embassy in Bern and the Pilecki Institute with the support of experts from the Institute of National Remembrance, the Jewish Historical Institute and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
See also
- Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”
News
Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”
The second academic conference in a series “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)” brought together representatives of various fields of the humanities and social sciences from numerous research centers in Poland and abroad.
- Accountability for War Crimes. New book from Pilecki's expert
News
Accountability for War Crimes. New book from Pilecki's expert
It is an expanded English-language edition of the monograph "Problem odpowiedzialności karnej za zbrodnie wojenne w pracach rządu polskiego na emigracji (1939–1945)", which in 2023 was awarded a grant under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s “Excellent Science II” program for the translation and open-access publication of the book abroad.
- 12 July | Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup
News
12 July | Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup
12 July is celebrated as the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup. The roundup began 81 years ago on this day – on 12 July 1945, two months after the end of the Second World War.
- The Volhynian Crime: The Pilecki Institute and its scholarly and research activities
News
The Volhynian Crime: The Pilecki Institute and its scholarly and research activities
On the Sunday of 11 July 1943, units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the armed wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Stepan Bandera faction) – a radical fascist organization striving to build an independent Ukrainian state without any national minorities – carried out a coordinated attack on almost a hundred Polish settlements in the German-occupied Volhynian Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic.
- Announcement
News
Announcement
The Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor, the sole shareholder of Pilecki Institute (USA), Inc., announces that the Board of Directors has appointed Jack Fairweather as the interim President (CEO) of Pilecki Institute (USA), Inc., effective as of 18 June 2026. His task will be to expand the program strategy in line with the statutory mission of the Pilecki Institute’s New York branch.
- The MODEERN FREEDOM exhibition at the Pilecki Institute NYC is now open!
News
The MODEERN FREEDOM exhibition at the Pilecki Institute NYC is now open!
The largest group presentation of Polish contemporary art in New York since MoMA’s legendary “Fifteen Polish Painters” exhibition in 1961.
- The Witold Pilecki International Book Award for historical books. Applications accepted only until the end of June!
News
The Witold Pilecki International Book Award for historical books. Applications accepted only until the end of June!
The Pilecki Institute is accepting applications for the Witold Pilecki International Book Award until the end of June. The competition, now in its sixth year, is organized with the participation of the Patron’s Family and in partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
- On better protection against crimes against humanity: Summary of the international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity”
News
On better protection against crimes against humanity: Summary of the international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity”
The international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity: Bridging the Normative Gap” successfully concluded at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw. Organized on the 20th and 21st of April 2026, in cooperation with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the event aimed to provide historical and academic foundations for the first-ever United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity.
- April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention
News
April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention
Beginning with today’s (April 30) deadline for all nations to submit their official comments to the United Nations on the draft of the proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, Poland has made an aggressive bid to become one of the leaders representing the globe’s most vulnerable victims.
- Recap of the 5th edition of the Pilecki Institute International Teachers and Educators Program (ITEP)
News
Recap of the 5th edition of the Pilecki Institute International Teachers and Educators Program (ITEP)
This year's online conference focused on the post-war decade of 1945–1955 – a time of rebuilding devastated countries, the beginning of the Cold War, and the birth of a new international order.
- Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visits the Augustów Roundup Memorial House
News
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visits the Augustów Roundup Memorial House
On 22 April 2026, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, visited the Augustów Roundup Memorial House.
- Research cooperation between the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) and the Pilecki Institute
News
Research cooperation between the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) and the Pilecki Institute
The Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor has entered into official cooperation with the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) at Philipps University in Marburg.