ABSTRACT
The Nazis were eager to use their methods of deception in ghettos all over Hungary. To do this, they had to prevent the activation of the Zionist rescue network that had been built up so carefully before the occupation. When Rezso Kasztner failed to halt the illegal rescue missions altogether, he still found ways to limit their scope and effectiveness. The most important was ensuring that the activists had no actual information to impart if they tried to motivate the victims to flee. Some of the young Zionists who embarked on missions to the provincial towns were aware of the fate of Jews under Nazi rule in Poland and elsewhere. From this they inferred that the fate of Jews under Nazi rule in Hungary would be similar. While the head of the rescue committee did his best to stop illegal rescue missions and suppressed information that might have rendered warnings credible, the deception of the victims proceeded without hindrance.
