Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. Wallenberg is known for his efforts to rescue thousands, perhaps and many as one hundred thousand Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust. Wallenberg served as Sweden’s special envoy in Budapest where, between July and December 1944, he issued protective passports and sheltered Jews.
During the Siege of Budapest by the Red Army in January 1945, Wallenberg was detained by Soviet authorites. He was suspected of espionage and later disappeared. It was reported that he died on July 17, 1947, although the circumstances surrounding his death remain mysterious.