Lesson 23:Escape from the Nazis

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Raoul then came up with another clever idea. Hedesigned a new type of passport. These were like specialpasses. Anyone who had one would be safe from Nazilaws against the Jews.On his business trips, Raoul had noticed that itwas easy to impress the Nazis with fancy documents.So he made his new passes look very grand. They werelarge and had Sweden’s royal symbols on them. Raoulincluded official stamps and names, too. These paperskept thousands of Jews safe.If Raoul heard the Nazis were getting ready tosend Jews to the death camps, he went right to thetrain station. Raoul wasn’t afraid of confronting theNazis. He gave passes to as many people as he could.Then he demanded that the Nazis release anyone whohad one.Raoul also put his training as a city plannerto work. He found ways to house a lot of people ina little space. He rented several buildings. Then hehung the Swedish flag out front. Anyone who lived inthese buildings was now considered neutral, too. For awhile, they were safe from the Nazis.9
Raoul and his workers also made sure peoplegot the food and clothing they needed. They set uphospitals. They gave the Jews free medical care.After a few months, Raoul thought the worstproblems had subsided. Then a new group of Nazistook over in Hungary. The Jews were now in moredanger than ever.A Change in PlansThe Soviet Union was on the side of thosefighting against the Nazis. The Soviets destroyedrailroad tracks, so trains couldn’t reach the deathcamps. As a result, the Nazis sent the Jews to workcamps instead. They forced tens of thousands ofpeople to walk more than 100 miles to these camps.The Nazis shot many who couldn’t keep up.Thousands died on the march.Raoul brought food, clothing, and medicine toJews at rest stops. He gave passes to as many people ashe could. Then he pushed the Nazis to release them.Wallenberg exasperated the Nazis. They expressedtheir anger in strident words and tried to kill him.Finally, the Nazis planned to kill all Jews left inBudapest. They forced about 70,000 people to moveinto a small area. A high fence kept them inside.10
Page 1 and 2: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Page 3 and 4: Raoul WallenbergThe Making of a Her
Page 5 and 6: Many German Jews tried to get to Pa
Page 7 and 8: A New MissionWhen World War II star
Page 9: In April of 1944, a declaration ord
Page 13 and 14: This memorial to Raoul Wallenberg i
Page 15 and 16: Other RescuersMore than 20,000 non-
Page 17 and 18: TARGET VOCABULARYconfrontingcontemp

Lesson 23:Escape from the Nazis

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