Van Hollen To Speak At Lunch Honoring Wallenberg

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen is scheduled to speak at a luncheon honoring diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

The Congressional Gold Medal luncheon is scheduled for Wednesday in Washington.

Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who was sent to Budapest in the waning days of World War II by the War Refugee Board, an American government agency tasked with rescuing victims of persecution.

He is credited with saving at least 20,000 Jewish lives in Budapest by giving them Swedish travel documents or moving them to safe houses. He also is credited with dissuading German officers from massacring the 70,000 inhabitants of the city's ghetto.

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