Thanks to my fellow collector FM from Germany who offered this quite unusual document, I can display it’s pictures and tell a bit about the document. Direct after WWII Swastika free documents did not exist so the local governments had to be flexible and creative. The Allies initiated instantly a Denazification of Germany – the Swastika was forbidden and so it is till today in modern Germany.
So what did the local Austrian government issued here? It’s actually a NS-German Temporary Alien Passport but the Swastika was over labelled with DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC AUSTRIA! A very creative version. From time to time such “specialties” showing up but they are definitely rare! By the way the document was sold for $300. Congrats to seller and buyer!
Such Alien NS “passports” were issued to stateless or alien persons mainly for the purpose of a residence permit even when it was stated sometime “valid for Germany and abroad”. Such documents were most rarely used for travelling abroad. If you find such one – grab it!
Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology (Nazism). It was carried out specifically by removing from positions of power and influence those who had been Nazi Party members and by disbanding or rendering impotent the organizations associated with Nazism. The program of denazification was launched after the end of the Second World War and was solidified by the Potsdam Agreement.
The term denazification was first coined as a legal term in 1943 in the Pentagon, intended to be applied in a narrow sense with reference to the post-war German legal system. Soon afterward, it took on the more general meaning.
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