Raoul Wallenberg's Life And Work

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Raoul Wallenberg was born near Stockholm, Sweden on August 4, 1912. Sadly his father died 3 months before his birth from an illness, leaving his mother to raise Wallenberg. Raoul belonged to one of the most famous families in Sweden. His father, Raoul Oscar Wallenberg, was a lieutenant in the Swedish Navy and his cousins were two of the most famous bankers and industrialists. Little did they know, Wallenberg was soon to become a man that lead over 100,000 Hungarian Jews to freedom during WWII. Education His grandfather, Gustav Wallenberg, was very avid to teach him about different cultures and languages during his childhood. The plan for young Wallenberg was for him to continue the family tradition and become a banker, but his dream was to become an architect. …show more content…

There, he studied architecture and was a top student graduating in 1935, earning his bachelor degree of Science in Architecture. He graduated with honors in only 3 and a half years and won a university medal for the best academic record. News about Nazi Persecution When in Palestine for a new job, he met Jews that escaped Hitler. The stories affected Wallenberg deeply. He was recruited by the War of Refugee Board in 1944 and traveled to Hungry. His job was to help and rescue the Hungarian Jews. In that year more than 440,000 Hungarian Jews were sent to concentration camps. Upon arrival 320,000 Jews died, the rest were forced into concentration camps such as Auschwitz. Rescue and Relief Wallenberg was very quick to aid the Hungarian Jews when arriving in Budapest, Hungary. He began distributing certificates of protection and providing passports to about 20,000 Jews. The passport protected them from deportation and allowed housing with the Swedish

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