When did we start using passports? - Kristin Surak

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

Passports and survival in WWII (human impact)

• In 1941 German-occupied Poland, Nazis began deporting Jewish people to extermination camps.
• Exceptions / “loopholes”: Nazis detained foreign passport holders to potentially exchange them for Germans held abroad.
• A Polish diplomat in Switzerland, Aleksander Ładoś, exploited this by forging Latin American passports and smuggling them to Polish Jews.
• These forged passports became a life-or-death tool for thousands.

Passports as a relatively new bureaucratic invention

Travel documents existed long before modern passports:

• Ancient Egypt: letters of safe conduct issued by rulers.
• Han China and Tudor England: travel passes for foreigners.
• 19th-century US: many migrants needed health certificates to enter.

For much of human history, borders were more fluid, and travel often did not require heavy bureaucracy.

World War I as the turning point

• In 1914, when WWI began, European neighbors (and colonies) became wartime enemies.
• Countries established checkpoints at ports of entry to verify nationality and control movement, including concerns about:
  • Espionage
  • Desertion
• Early passport forms varied across countries in format and the information required.

League of Nations and institutionalization (1920s)

• After WWI, some hoped passport requirements would be removed.
• In 1920, the newly formed League of Nations chose to temporarily keep passports, citing:
  • national security
  • preventing epidemic spread
  • managing refugees
• To ease travel, the League encouraged international guidelines, such as:
  • standard booklet size/layout
  • documents in the issuing country’s language and French
• By 1926, momentum to abolish passports had faded, helping solidify the system.

Passports as mechanisms of control, not just identification

Passports became tools of power and control, reinforcing inequalities:

• citizens from colonizer states vs. those from colonies
• example from the 1920s: UK-born British subjects could obtain a British passport, while Indian-born subjects received a different British Indian passport
• Because passports are issued by governments, they can be withheld to punish citizens or deter dissent.
• During the Cold War, the US revoked passports of political/civil rights activists, including W.E.B. Du Bois.

Modern tightening through airports and digital systems

• In the second half of the 20th century, passport monitoring shifted increasingly to airports.
• Digital tracking and databases enabled governments to regulate movement more precisely.

Today: passport power depends on geopolitics and inequality

A passport’s travel power depends on:

• international relationships
• regional agreements (e.g., Schengen, which enables border-free travel across 29 European countries)
• how many countries grant visa-free access

Travel access disparities (examples):

• As of 2025:
  • US passport holders can enter nearly 180 countries without pre-arranging visas
  • Pakistani passport holders: fewer than 40
• Visa access also varies by applicant nationality:
  • 2024 example: Algerian applicants for US visitor visas faced a much higher refusal rate than Brazilian applicants.

“Golden passports” and money-based citizenship access

Some countries offer “golden passports” programs:

• citizenship (and thus passports) can be obtained through significant investment/donation.

This implies that in some contexts, wealth can directly buy mobility and legal status.

Central question raised

• As global integration grows for some while borders tighten for others, the video ends by questioning:
  • whether “lines on a map” should determine rights and freedoms.

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Methodology / list of instructions presented

• No explicit step-by-step instructional methodology is provided in the subtitles.
• Implied historical “processes” (presented as historical context, not instructions) include:
  • How passport systems were encouraged/standardized after WWI (e.g., standard size/layout, language requirements, and timing decisions by international bodies).
  • How passport documents were forged/smuggled in WWII (presented as a historical account, not a how-to).

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Speakers / sources featured (identified)

• Kristin Surak (video title indicates she is the main source/presenter)
• Aleksander Ładoś (Polish diplomat who forged and smuggled passports)
• W.E.B. Du Bois (named activist whose passport was revoked by the US)
• Nazis (referenced as the occupying force and system responsible for deportations/exchanges)
• League of Nations (institution discussed as shaping passport policy)