NARRATIVE: In the waning days of World War II (1939-45), Raoul Wallenberg (1912 - c. 1947), a Swedish businessman-turned-diplomat based in Budapest, was responsible for the rescue of thousands–some estimates are as high as 100,000–of Hungarian Jews from extermination by the Nazis. Wallenberg handed out protective passports and set up safe houses for Jews, among other life-saving measures.

In January 1945, he was detained by Soviet forces for reasons unknown, somewhere outside of Budapest, and never heard from again. Years later, Soviet officials admitted to taking Wallenberg into custody, but stated he had died of a heart attack in a Moscow prison in 1947. In the ensuing decades, various sources claimed that Wallenberg was still alive and being held by the Russians. While his exact fate remains a mystery, he has received numerous accolades for his humanitarianism.