On January 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced a new policy to rescue and provide relief for Jews and other groups persecuted by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. The War Refugee Board, tasked with carrying out these programs, likely saved tens of thousands of lives. The War Refugee Board was the first and only official American response to the crimes we now call the Holocaust.
Third meeting of the board of directors of the War Refugee Board. From the left are Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, and Executive Director John Pehle. Washington, DC, United States, March 21, 1944.
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Photo taken in Secretary of State Cordell Hull's office on the occasion of the third meeting of the War Refugee Board. Hull is at the left, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., is in the center, and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson is at the right. Washington, DC, United States, March 21, 1944.
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Meeting of the War Refugee Board in the office of Executive Director John Pehle. Pictured left to right are Albert Abrahamson, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Josiah Dubois, and Pehle. Washington, DC, United States, March 21, 1944.
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Portrait of John Pehle, Executive Director of the War Refugee Board. United States, 1940s.
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Swedish "protective pass" issued to Lili Katz, a Hungarian Jew. The document was initialed by Raoul Wallenberg (bottom left). Budapest, Hungary, August 25, 1944.
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We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies, Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, the Claims Conference, EVZ, and BMF for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of donor acknowledgement.
