Raoul Wallenberg

aoul Wallenberg was instrumental in saving the lives of over 100,000 Jews in Budapest, Hungary, during the Holocaust. Wallenberg was sent to Budapest by the Swedish and U.S. governments to help protect Jews from deportation after the German invasion of March 19, 1944. When Wallenberg arrived in July 1944, 400,000 Jews had already been deported from Budapest to Auschwitz. He immediately began issuing Swedish protective passes to Jews and setting up “Swedish houses” that were hiding places for those in danger of deportation. Wallenberg was known for his undiplomatic attitude and the extreme measures he used to protect the Jews. When the Soviet Army liberated Budapest in February 1945, they took Wallenberg away. He was never seen again. To this day, his death is a bit of a mystery, but the Soviets claimed he died on July 17, 1947, in prison. Whether he was executed or died of natural causes has never been definitively known.