At Rabbi Weissmandl's initiative, the Working Group was also responsible for the ambitious but ill-fated
Europa Plan which would have seen large numbers of European Jews rescued from the Nazi and Fascist murderers. An agreement was negotiated with the Nazis in late 1942 and one to two million dollars ransom was required to stop most transports. The Germans asked for a 10% down payment. As part of Gisi Fleischmann's duties, she met several times in
Hungary with Jewish leaders, and also attempted to enlist support from
Saly Mayer, the Swiss representative of the JOINT (Joint Distribution Committee), and Hechalutz representatives in order to raise money to pay the ransom. Nothing came of it, reportedly because Sally Mayer was unwilling to provide the down-payment since currency transfer to Nazis was illegal. Another opinion is that Heinrich Himmler intervened in August 1943. Unfortunately, the down payment was never made. The Working Group also played a central role in the distribution of the
Auschwitz Report in spring of 1944 written by
Slovak Jews Rudolf Vrba and
Alfred Wetzler. Rabbi Weissmandl's version ultimately reached
George Mantello in Switzerland via Budapest. He immediately published the report's summary. That triggered a major Swiss grass-roots protest in the Swiss press, churches and streets. It was a major factor leading to President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and others threatening Hungary's regent Horthy with post-war retribution if he did not immediately stop the transports. This significantly influenced Horthy to stop the transports. At the time, about 12,000 Jews per day were transported from Hungary to Auschwitz. Consequently,
Raoul Wallenberg was able to go to Budapest, where he and diplomats like
Carl Lutz,
Angelo Rotta, and others rescued large numbers of Jews. == Death and legacy ==