Lauer found it increasingly difficult to travel and turned over control of his foreign division to Wallenberg. In 1944. Wallenberg was approached by the American War Refugee Board to take part in a plan to assist Jews in Budapest who were in danger of falling victim to the holocaust. Wallenberg agreed to take part in the project and was sent to Budapest as a representative of the Swedish Government. In Budapest. Wallenberg hired several hundred Jews to staff his office. bringing them under the diplomatic protection of Sweden. Additionally. he created a new official looking Swedish passport. known as the "Schutzpass." Wallenberg gave the Schutzpass to thousands of Hungarian Jews and said that it granted the holder immunity from Nazi deportation. The Schutzpass deceived the Nazis and may have saved the lives of as many as 20.000 Jews. Wallenberg is also known to have rented 32 buildings in Budapest. which he declared to be under the diplomatic protection of the Swedish Government.
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deportation Refugee