Honduras papers, April 1943

In April 1943, Rosy and Sigmund received papers for Honduran citizenship. Like many Dutch Jews, they obtained Latin American passports through an unofficial network involving honorary consuls in Switzerland. These documents were not intended to enable emigration to Honduras; rather, they gave holders temporary status as 'exchange Jews', whom the Germans hoped to trade for German nationals held abroad. Although holders were still interned in camps such as Bergen-Belsen under brutal conditions, these papers could delay or prevent deportation to the death camps and offered a limited chance of survival.