Wallenberg Raoul

Wallenberg, Raoul Raoul Wallenberg, (b.1912) a Swedish diplomat, volunteered to serve at the Swedish Legation in Budapest, and saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews during 1944-1945. After the occupation of Hungary on March 19, 1944, the Swedish Legation launched a rescue operation to save Jews from being deported to death camps. When Wallenberg arrived in the Hungarian capital on July 9, 1944 to serve as the new legation attaché, provisional passports had been already issued by the legation to Hungarian Jews who had family ties or commercial connections with Sweden. Wallenberg operated fearlessly, developing the rescue operation and took serious risks in order to issue Swedish passports and protective letters to Jews who were otherwise doomed to deportation. This danger was imminent after October 15, 1944, when the fascist Arrow Cross party seized power. Filled with confidence, Wallenberg was able to offer thousands of Jews protection against the Germans and the Hungarian fascist police. During the dark days of horror and death, Wallenberg manifested himself as an angel of hope, issuing in three months thousands of protective letters to persecuted Jews. When Adolf Eichmann organized the death marches of thousands of Jews from Budapest to the Austrian border, Wallenberg pursued the convoys in his car and managed to release hundreds of Jews to whom protective letters were granted. He also released Jews whose names were on lists for forced labor as well as being responsible for renting and maintaining special hostels accommodating Jews in 31 “Swedish Houses.” Protection was granted by the Swedish Embassy, other diplomatic missions and international organizations. When the Red Army entered Budapest, Wallenberg was taken away by the Soviets on January 17, 1945, and then he disappeared. In the first years after his disappearance, the Soviets claimed that they had no knowledge of a person named Wallenberg. Nevertheless, people who were incarcerated in Sovietprisons claimed that they had met him in various prisons. In 1956, the Soviets finally claimed that he had died in prison in 1947. Since his disappearance, public committees throughout the world have tried to find out what happened to Raoul Wallenberg. After the war, memorial institutions and streets were named after him, films produced, and books and articles have been published about Wallenberg and his contribution to the rescue of Hungarian Jewry. In recognition of Wallenberg’s legendary work, the United States Congress awarded him honorary American citizenship. On November 26, 1963, Yad Vashem recognized Raoul Wallenberg as Righteous Among the Nations.