Raoul Wallenberg

Protective Passports

"Never postpone until tomorrow what you can postpone until the day after (www. GoodReads.com)." This quote was said by Raoul Wallenberg. It means that you shouldn't put off what you could that day or instant. This quote should always be remembered because Raoul took this quote into consideration and did something about Jews and the Holocaust.

Raoul Wallenberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden on August 4, 1912. His family was wealthy and well known and he attended the best school. His favorite things to do was biking, fishing and reading about heroes. Since Raoul's father died before he was born his grandfather was in charge of his education. So they traveled all over Europe. After he graduated high school, he came to study architecture in the United States at the University of Michigan in 1931. In 1935 he returned back to Europe and he saw bad acts happening to innocent people especially Jews.

Raoul was sent Haifa, Palestine (now Israel) by his grandfather to work in a bank office. He met a lot of Jews who escaped from Hitler's Germany. He listened to their stories of persecution and his heart couldn't take it because he had a drop of blood in his system. His grandmother's grandfather was a Jew. After this he decided that something should be done. He said that he would help out Jews who had the risk of being sent to concentration camps and killed. He went to Budapest and worked with the Swedish embassy to help rescue Jews.

Raoul didn't have any challenges in his life except face to face confrontations with Hitler.

To help the Jews and save their lives Raoul gave them papers like passports called Schutz Pass. These passes would allow the Jews to exit Europe. While they were in Sweden he hid them in buildings with the Swedish Flag on it. With the help of the International Red Cross he was able to give them food, clothes, warm blankets and more passports. He didn't care about the risk he had to take and because of that he was able to save the lives of over 30,000 Jews. The people he saved are living evidence to his heroism.

During Raoul's lifetime the only special events occurring was the Holocaust. The holocaust was the slaughter of European Jews. The Nazis killed approximately six million Jews. Raoul immediately thought that he needed to help. What contributed to this was that when he was younger he would always read books about heroes.

There is no evidence if Raoul is alive. He disappeared in a prison called Gulang. He was arrested on suspicion charges. He was sent to Moscow and there are reports that he died of a heart attack in prison in 1947. But there are also reports of him being alive in 1951, 1959 and 1975.

Raoul Wallenberg is a hero because he helped save the lives of thousands of Jews. The way he did it was illegal. The people he saved