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 War Refugee Board
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.
Item ViewA meeting of the War Refugee Board
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.
Item ViewMeeting of the War Refugee Board
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.
Item ViewJohn Pehle
Portrait of John Pehle, Executive Director of the War Refugee Board. United States, 1940s.
Item ViewSwedish "protective pass"
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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