Raoul Wallenberg

Infobox Person
name = Raoul Gustav Wallenberg


image_size = 250px
caption = Wallenberg passport photo from June 1944
birth_date = birth date|1912|8|4|mf=y
birth_place = Lidingö Municipality, Sweden
death_date = presumed death date and age|1947|7|17|1912|8|4
death_place = presumed Soviet Union
occupation = Diplomat
spouse =
parents = Raoul Oscar Wallenberg
Maria "Maj" Sofia Wising
children =

Raoul Wallenberg (August 4, 1912 – July 17, 1947?) [The date of death is based on a letter turned over to his family by the Soviets in 1957 and is disputed by some.] cite web |url= http://www.nndb.com/people/744/000111411 |title= Raoul Wallenberg |accessdate=2007-02-12 | publisher = Notable Names Database] was a Swedish humanitarian of the prominent Swedish Wallenberg family who worked in Budapest, Hungary during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Between July and December of 1944 he issued protective passports and housed several thousands Jews, saving tens of thousands lives.cite web |url=http://www1.yadvashem.org/search/index_search.html |title= Yad Vashem database | quote= who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest during World War II ... and put some 15,000 Jews into 32 safe houses.|accessdate=2007-02-12 |publisher = Yad Vashem]

His death has since long been a source of dispute. On January 17, 1945, he was arrested by Soviets, and was reported to have died in March. In 1957, the Soviets announced that Wallenberg had actually died of a heart attack in 1947. In 1991, Vyacheslav Nikonov was assigned by the Russian government to find out the truth, concluding that Wallenberg did indeed die in 1947, but by execution. However, a 2001 Swedish report said: "There is no fully reliable proof of what happened to Raoul Wallenberg". [ [http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4734876 Scholars Run Down More Clues To A Holocaust Mystery] - ABCNews. Retrieved August 26, 2008]

Wallenberg has been honored by having streets and monuments named after him throughout the world, and he had been made an honorary citizen in the United States, Israel, Canada and Hungary. A Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States, est. 1981, was was created to "perpetuate the humanitarian ideals and the nonviolent courage of Raoul Wallenberg" and gives out the Raoul Wallenberg Award to further its purpose.

Early life

Wallenberg was born in Walpole, Lidingö (near Stockholm, Sweden) to Raoul Oscar Wallenberg (1888–1912), a Swedish naval officer, and Maria "Maj" Sofia Wising (1891–1979). Raoul Oscar Wallenberg died of cancer three months before his son was born. [Raoul Gustav Wallenberg's paternal grandfather, Gustaf Oscar Wallenberg (1863–1937), the son of Oscar Wallenberg, was a diplomat, an envoy to Tokyo, Constantinople, and Sofia. For a brief biography, see ] In 1918, his mother married Fredrik von Dardel, and Raoul had a half-brother, Guy von Dardel. [ [http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_res/dardel/dardel.html Actions done by Raoul Wallenberg's brother, Guy von Dardel] ] Raoul Wallenberg also had a maternal half-sister, Nina Lagergren. Nina's daughter, Nane Maria Lagergren, married Kofi Annan.cite web | url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/wallenberg.html | title = Raoul Wallenberg | accessdate = | year = 2007 | publisher = Jewish Virtual Library]

In 1931, Wallenberg went to study architecture in the United States at the University of Michigan. In college, he learned to speak English, German and French.cite web |first=Penny |last=Schreiber |url=http://www.wallenberg.umich.edu/college.html |title=The Wallenberg Story |accessdate=2007-02-14] He used his vacations to explore America. Although he came from a wealthy family, during his free time, he worked at odd jobs, including at a World's Fair.

He returned to Sweden, but he was unable to find a job as an architect. Eventually, his grandfather arranged a job for him in Cape Town, South Africa, in the office of a Swedish company that sold construction material.cite web | url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/wallenberg.html | title = Raoul Wallenberg | accessdate = | year = 2007 | publisher = Jewish Virtual Library] Between 1935 and 1936, he was employed in a minor position at a branch office of the Holland Bank in Haifa.cite web | url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/wallenberg.html | title = Raoul Wallenberg | accessdate = | year = 2007 | publisher = Jewish Virtual Library] He returned to Sweden in 1936 and got a job with the help of his uncle, Jacob Wallenberg, at the Central European Trading Company, an export-import company trading in Europe [The company name is sometimes translated as the Mid-European Trading Company] owned by the Hungarian-Jew Kálmán Lauer.

Working in Hungary

In 1938, Hungary under the regency of Miklós Horthy passed a series of anti-Jewish measures that restricted their professions, reduced the number of Jews in government jobs, and prohibited intermarriage. Lauer found it increasingly difficult to travel to Hungary, and Wallenberg became his trusted representative. Wallenberg soon learnt Hungarian, and from 1941 made frequent travels to Budapest.Lester, Elenore and Werbell, Frederick E.; The Last Hero of Holocaust. The Search for Sweden's Raoul Wallenberg.; "New York Times Magazine"; March 30, 1980, Sunday; Retrieved on February 14, 2007] Within a year, Wallenberg was a joint owner and the international director of the company.

In April and May 1944, when the loss of the war was a foregone conclusion, the Germans and their Hungarian accomplices began the mass deportation of Hungarian Jews, at the rate of 12,000 per day. [ [http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/StaticPages/526.html The Holocaust Chronicle PROLOGUE: Roots of the Holocaust, page 526 ] ] The persecution of the Jews in Hungary soon became well known abroad, unlike the full extent of the Holocaust. In late spring 1944, George Mantello publicized what has now been called the Wetzler-Vrba Report. World leaders Churchill, Roosevelt and others worked to assist Horthy in stopping the deportations. [Winston Churchill, in a letter to his Foreign Secretary dated July 11, 1944, wrote "There is no doubt that this persecution of Jews in Hungary and their expulsion from enemy territory is probably the greatest and most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world...." [http://cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?p=6855 "Winston Churchill's The Second World War and the Holocaust's Uniqueness"] , Istvan Simon.]

In spring 1944, President Roosevelt sent Iver Olsen to Stockholm as an official representative of the American War Refugee Board. He was looking for someone willing and able to go to Budapest to organize a rescue-program for the Jews. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10005143 Holocaust Encyclopedia] ; Retrieved on January 27, 2007] Olsen believed that Wallenberg was the right man.

Diplomat in Budapest

On July 9, 1944, Wallenberg travelled to Budapest as the First Secretary to the Swedish legation in Budapest. Together with fellow Swedish diplomat Per Anger [cite news |first=Ilya |last= Garger|authorlink= |title= Milestones: Died. Per Anger.|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501020909-346286,00.html|work= |publisher= Time (magazine)|date=September 2, 2002 |accessdate=2007-02-13] he issued "protective passports" (German: "Schutz-Pass"), which identified the bearers as Swedish subjects awaiting repatriation and prevented their deportation. Although not legally valid, these documents looked official and were generally accepted by German and Hungarian authorities, who sometimes were also bribed. The Swedish legation in Budapest also succeeded in negotiating with the Germans that the bearers of the protective passes would be treated as Swedish citizens and be exempt from having to wear the yellow Star of David on their chests.

With the money raised by the board, Wallenberg rented thirty-two buildings in Budapest, and declared them to be extraterritorial, protected by diplomatic immunity. He put up signs such as "The Swedish Library" and "The Swedish Research Institute" on their doors and hung oversize Swedish flags on the front of the buildings to bolster the deception. The buildings eventually housed almost 10,000 people.

Sandor Ardai, one of the drivers working for Wallenberg, recounted what Wallenberg did when he intercepted a trainload of Jews about to leave for Auschwitz:

At the height of the program, over 350 people were involved in the rescue of Jews. [cite web |url=http://www.rwallenberg-int.org/Programs/RW_Lesson_Secondary_2006/CHAPTER_4.htm |title=Wallenberg Legacy |accessdate=2007-02-14 |publisher=Raoul Wallenberg International Movement for Humanity |work= ] Sister Sara Salkahazi was caught sheltering Jewish women and was killed by members of the Arrow Cross Party. Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz also issued protective passports from the Swiss embassy in the spring of 1944; and italian businessman Giorgio Perlasca posed as a Spanish diplomat and issued forged visas. [ [http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_text/wallenberg_mis.html Raoul Wallenberg and the rescue Mission "Budapest Jews“ 1944/45] Light in the darkness, By Christoph Gann, retrieved 2008-09-19. Gann is the author of "Raoul Wallenberg:So Viele Menschen Retten Wie Moglich" (Germany, 2002). ISBN 3423308524]

Wallenberg started sleeping in a different house each night, to avoid being captured or killed by Arrow Cross Party members or by Eichmann. [cite web |url=http://raoulwallenberg.org/who/who.html |title=Final Report of the War Refugee Board from Sweden |accessdate=2007-02-14 |format= |work= ] Two days before the Russians occupied Budapest, Wallenberg negotiated with both Eichmann and General Gerhard Schmidthuber, the commander of the German army in Hungary. Wallenberg bribed Arrow Cross Party member Pál Szalai to deliver a note in which Wallenberg persuaded them to cancel a final effort to organize a death march of the remaining Jews in Budapest by threatening to have them prosecuted for war crimes once the war was over.Lester, Elenore and Werbell, Frederick E.; The Last Hero of Holocaust. The Search for Sweden's Raoul Wallenberg.; "New York Times Magazine"; March 30, 1980, Sunday; Retrieved on February 14, 2007]

People saved by Wallenberg include biochemist Lars Ernster, who was housed in the Swedish embassy, and Tom Lantos, later a member of the United States House of Representatives, who lived in one of the Swedish protective houses. [cite web |url=http://info.jpost.com/C001/Supplements/Shoah/hol_LantosList.html |title= Lantos's list | quote= Born in Hungary in 1928 to assimilated Jewish parents, he escaped from a forced-labor brigade, joined the resistance and was eventually, with his later-to-be-wife Annette, among the tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews rescued by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.|accessdate=2007-02-15 |publisher = Jerusalem Post]

Detention by the Russians

The Soviet Red Army closed in on Budapest in early 1945, and on January 17, 1945, Wallenberg was called to Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's headquarter in Debrecen on suspicion of being a spy for the United States and that the War Refugee Board was engaged in espionage. ["Jews in Hungary Helped by Swede". "The New York Times"; April 26, 1945, Thursday; Retrieved on February 14, 2007.] Wallenberg's last recorded words were: "I'm going to Malinovsky's ... whether as a guest or prisoner I do not know yet." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809115,00.html "Well Taken Care Of".] "Time"; February 18, 1957; Retrieved on February 14, 2007.] In 2003, a review of wartime Soviet correspondences indicated Vilmos Böhm may have provided Wallenberg's name to Stalin as a person to detain. [ [http://raoulwallenberg.org/heroes/news/news_detail.asp?id=56 "Soviet double agent may have betrayed Wallenberg"] ; Reuters; May 12, 2003; Retrieved on February 14, 2007.]

Information about Wallenberg after his detention is mostly speculative, as there were many witnesses who claim to have met him during his imprisonment. [See Braham, Randolph (2004): Rescue Operations in Hungary: Myths and Realities, "East European Quarterly" 38(2): 173-203.]

Wallenberg was transported by train from Debrecen through Romania to Moscow.cite web |url=http://www.regeringen.se/content/1/c6/04/11/39/37b7322e.pdf |title=Report of Swedish Russian Working Group |accessdate=2007-02-13] The Soviets may have moved him to their capital in hopes of exchanging him for defectors in Sweden. [ [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/scandinavia/01/12/wallenberg.finding/index.html Wallenberg fate shrouded in mystery] ; CNN; January 12, 2001; Retrieved on February 14, 2007] Vladimir Dekanosov notified the Swedes on January 16, 1945 that Wallenberg was under the protection of Soviet authorities. On January 21, 1945, Wallenberg was transferred to Lubyanka prison and held in cell 123 with fellow prisoner Gustav Richter, a police attaché at the German embassy in Romania. Richter testified in Sweden in 1955 that Wallenberg was interrogated once for about an hour and a half, in early February of 1945. On March 1, 1945, Richter was moved from his cell and never saw Wallenberg again.cite web |url= http://www.raoulwallenberg.org/who/hero.html |title=A Hero for our Time |accessdate=2007-02-12 |author= Rachel Oestreicher Bernheim |date= 1981] [cite news|title= Raoul Wallenberg, Life and Work| quote=The K.G.B. promised today that it would let agents break their vow of silence to help investigate the fate of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who vanished after being arrested by the Soviets in 1945.| publisher=New York Times| date=September 6, 1991 |accessdate=2007-02-12]

On March 8, 1945, Soviet-controlled Hungarian radio announced that Wallenberg and his driver had been murdered on their way to Debrecen, suggesting that they had been killed by the Arrow Cross Party or the Gestapo. Sweden's foreign minister, Östen Undén, and its ambassador to the Soviet Union, Staffan Söderblom, wrongly assumed that they were dead. In April 1945, William Averell Harriman of the U.S. State Department offered the Swedish government help in inquiring about Wallenberg’s fate, but the offer was declined. Söderblom met with Molotov and Stalin in Moscow on June 15, 1946. Söderblom, still believing Wallenberg to be dead, ignored talk of an exchange for Russian defectors in Sweden. [cite web |url= http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=848917&ct=1053043|title= The Last Word on Wallenberg? New Investigations, New Question|accessdate=2007-02-12] [cite web |url= http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_res/berger/stuck_25oct05.pdf|title= Stuck in Neutral: The Reasons behind Sweden's passivity in the Raoul Wallenberg case|accessdate=2007-02-12]

Death

On February 6, 1957, the Soviets released a document dated July 17, 1947 which stated "I report that the prisoner Walenberg [sic] who is well-known to you, died suddenly in his cell this night, probably as a result of a heart attack. Pursuant to the instructions given by you that I personally have Walenberg [sic] under my care, I request approval to make an autopsy with a view to establishing cause of death... I have personally notified the minister and it has been ordered that the body be cremated without autopsy." [http://www.raoulwallenberg.org/who/stone.html Chronology - Who is Raoul Wallenberg?] - The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States. Retrieved 2008-09-19] The document was signed by Smoltsov, then the head of the Lubyanka prison infirmary, and addressed to Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov, the Soviet minister of state security.German's Death Listed; Soviet Notifies the Red Cross Diplomat Died in Prison.; New York Times; February 15, 1957; Retrieved on February 14, 2007] In 1989, the Soviets returned Wallenberg's personal belongings to his family, including his passport and cigarette case. Soviet officials said they found the materials when they were upgrading the shelves in a store room. [Soviets Give Kin Wallenberg Papers. "New York Times"; October 17, 1989; Retrieved on February 14, 2007] cite web |url= http://www.osa.ceu.hu/guide/rip/1/a.html|title= Raoul Wallenberg, Life and Work|accessdate=2007-02-12]

In Stockholm in 2000, Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev announced that Wallenberg had been executed in 1947 in Lubyanka prison. He claimed that Vladimir Kryuchkov, the former Soviet secret police chief, told him about the shooting in a private conversation. The statement did not explain why Wallenberg was killed or why the government had lied about it.LaFraniere, Sharon; Moscow Admits Wallenberg Died In Prison in 1947. "Washington Post"; December 23, 2000] [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997659,00.html Cause of Death Conceded.] "Time (magazine)"; Monday, August 7, 2000] Pavel Sudoplatov claimed that Raoul Wallenberg was poisoned by Grigory Mairanovsky. [ Vadim J. Birstein. "The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science." (p.138) Westview Press (2004) ISBN 0-813-34280-5 ] In 2000, Russian prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov signed a verdict posthumously rehabilitating Wallenberg and his driver, Langfelder, as "victims of political repression". [ [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/12/22/russia.wallenberg/index.html Russia: Wallenberg wrongfully jailed] ; CNN; December 22, 2000; Retrieved on February 14, 2007] A number of files pertinent to Wallenberg were turned over to the chief rabbi of Russia by the Russian government in September 2007.cite web |url=http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/104393.html |title=Moscow releases Wallenberg files |accessdate=2007-07-29 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date=2007 |work= |publisher=JTA] They will be housed at the Museum of Tolerance in Moscow, scheduled to open in 2008.

Disputes regarding death year

Several former prisoners have claimed to have seen Wallenberg after his reported death in 1947. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4181427.stm Search for Swedish Holocaust hero] ; BBC; Monday, January 17, 2005] In February 1949, former German Colonel Theodor von Dufving, as a prisoner of war, provided evidentiary statements concerning Wallenberg. While en route to Vorkuta, in the transit camp in Kirov, Dufving encountered a prisoner with his own special guard and dressed in civilian clothes. The prisoner claimed that he was a Swedish diplomat and that he was there "through a great error." [http://www.raoulwallenberg.org/who/stone.html Chronology - Who is Raoul Wallenberg?] - The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States. Retrieved 2008-09-19]

Efim Moshinsky claims to have seen Raoul Wallenberg on Wrangel Island in 1962. An eyewitness asserted that she had seen Wallenberg in the 1960s in a Soviet prison.December 1993 interview by investigator Marvin Makinen of the University of Chicago. Makinen examined prison records and found additional evidence which seemed to possibly corroborate this. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080428/ap_on_re_eu/the_wallenberg_mystery_abridged;_ylt=ApANlMQR5QWLd_ZymDZpZwr9xg8F Scholars run down more clues to abiding Holocaust mystery] By ARTHUR MAX and RANDY HERSCHAFT, Associated Press, April 28, 2008. ] The last reported sightings of Wallenberg were by two independent witnesses who said they had evidence that he was in a prison in November of 1987. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Soviets Open Prisons and Records To Inquiry on Wallenberg's Fate.|url= |work= |publisher= New York Times|date= August 28, 1990|accessdate=2007-02-13 ]

A Swedish-Russian working group was set up in 1991 on Guy von Dardel's initiative [ [http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_coun/sweden/swed-rus_working2000.pdf Report of the Swedish-Russian Working Group, Stockholm 2000] , p. 15] to search 11 separate military and government archives from the former Soviet Union for information about Wallenberg's fate. [ [http://info.jpost.com/C001/Supplements/Shoah/hol_Missing.html Missing in Action: Raoul Wallenberg] ; Jerusalem Post] [ [http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_coun/sweden/swe.html Excerpt from 1993 working group session] ]

Raoul Wallenberg's brother, Professor Guy von Dardel, [http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_res/dardel/dardel.html Actions done by Raoul Wallenberg's brother, Guy von Dardel] ] a well known physicist, retired from CERN, is dedicated to finding out his brother's fate. [ [http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_res/dardel/dardel.html List of von Dardel's actions] ] He travelled to the Soviet Union about fifty times for discussions and research, including an examination of the Vladmir prison records. [ [http://www.arikaplan.com/speech/wallenberg.pdf mwm_adk_rpt.PDF ] ] Many, including Professor von Dardel and his daughters Louise and Marie, do not accept the various versions of Wallenberg's death and continue to request that the archives in Russia, Sweden and Hungary be opened to impartial researchers. In the family today, Wallenberg's niece, Ms. Louise von Dardel, is the main activist and dedicates much of her time speaking about Wallenberg and to lobbying various countries to help uncover information about her uncle.Ms. Louise von Dardel's February 2005 talks in the Knesset and the Jerusalem Begin Center and her interviews at the time to Israel TV English news, "Jerusalem Post", "VESTY" (Russian) and "Makor Rishon" (Hebrew). Also, numerous conversations with Ms. Louise von Dardel]

Show trial in 1953

In 1953 the Hungarian State Protection Authority ( _hu. Államvédelmi Hatóság or ÁVH) initiated a show trial to prove that Wallenberg had not been dragged off in 1945 to the Soviet Union, but was the victim of cosmopolitan Zionists. This was part of Stalin's anti-Zionist campaign.

In April 1952, Miksa Domonkos, László Benedek and Lajos Stöckler, three leaders of the Jewish community in Budapest, were kidnapped by ÁVH officials to extract confessions. [http://www.szombat.org/2006/0602apamatelhurcoltak.htm Interview with István Domonkos] , son of Miksa Domonkos, who died after the show trial preparations hu icon] Two purported eyewitnesses – Pál Szalai and Károly Szabó – were also arrested and interrogated using torture.

The idea that the "murderers of Wallenberg" were Budapest Zionists was primarily supported by Hungarian Communist leader Ernő Gerő, which is shown by a note sent by him to First Secretary Mátyás Rákosi. [ [http://www.es.hu/pd/display.asp?channel=PUBLICISZTIKA0442&article=2004-1018-1055-02COSU Kenedi János: Egy kiállítás hiányzó képei] hu icon] The show trial was to be held in Moscow. However, after the death of Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria, the preparations for the trial were stopped and the prisoners were released. Miksa Domonkos spent a week in hospital and died at home shortly afterwards, mainly due to the torture to which he had been subjected. [ [http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no143/p129.html Hungarian Quarterly] hu icon]

Honors

Wallenberg has received honors and had memorials dedicated to him. He was nominated twice to, but was not awarded, the Nobel Peace Prize. First, in 1948 by more than 50 qualified nominators [cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/nomination.php?action=advsearch&start=1&key1=candname&log1=LIKE&string1=Wallenberg&log10=OR&log11=OR&order1=year&order2=nomname&order3=cand1name |title=The Nomination Database for the Nobel Peace Prize, 1901-1956 |publisher=nobelprize.org |accessdate=2008-10-10] and again in 1949 by a single nominator [cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/nomination.php?action=advsearch&start=1&key1=candname&log1=LIKE&string1=Wallenberg&log10=OR&log11=OR&order1=year&order2=nomname&order3=cand1name |title=The Nomination Database for the Nobel Peace Prize, 1901-1956 |publisher=nobelprize.org |accessdate=2008-10-10] . At the time (and until 1974), the prize could have been awarded posthumously [http://nobelprize.org/nomination/nomination_facts.html] .

United States

He was made an Honorary Citizen of the United States in 1981, the second person to be so honored, after Winston Churchill. In 1985, the portion of 15th Street, SW, in Washington, D.C., on which the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum sits, was renamed Raoul Wallenberg Place by Act of Congress. [ [http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8619 Raoul Wallenberg Place] The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2008-09-19] Verified in an 1989 edition. ("Guinness Rekordbok 1989", Bokförlaget Forum Stockholm Sverige, 1988)]

The United States Postal Service issued a stamp to honor him in 1997. Representative Tom Lantos, one of those saved by Wallenberg's actions, said: "It is most appropriate that we honor [him] with a U.S. stamp. In this age devoid of heroes, Wallenberg is the archetype of a hero – one who risked his life day in and day out, to save the lives of tens of thousands of people he did not know whose religion he did not share." [cite web | url = http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/wallenberg/tributes/philately/3368.htm | title = Holocaust Hero Honored on Postage Stamp | accessdate = | year = 1996 | publisher = United States Postal Service]

The Raoul Wallenberg Monument is located on Raoul Wallenberg Walk in Manhattan, across from the headquarters of the United Nations. It was commissioned by the Swedish consulate and was designed by Swedish sculptor Gustav Graitz. Graitz’s piece, "Hope", is a replica of Wallenberg’s briefcase, a sphere, five pillars of black granite, and paving stones which once were used on the streets of the Jewish ghetto in Budapest. [cite web | url = http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=7321 | title = Raoul Wallenberg Playground | accessdate = | publisher = New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]

Several other places are named after him. New Jersey Transit named Trenton, New Jersey's train station for him; and the Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco is named after him.

Israel

Wallenberg was granted honorary citizenship by Israel in 1986 and was honored at the Yad Vashem memorial as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, recognizing non-Jews who saved Jews from the Holocaust. [cite web | url = http://www1.yadvashem.org/visiting/temp_visiting/temp_index_wallenberg.html | title = Visiting Yad Vashem: Raoul Wallenberg | accessdate = | year = 2004 | publisher = Yad Vashem] There are many tributes to Wallenberg in Israel, such as at least five streets. [ [http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/wallenberg/tributes/world/israel.652.htm Wallenberg Tributes Around The World - Israel] The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. Retrived 2008-09-24] Along one such street in Tel Aviv, there is since 2002 a statue identical to one in Budapest (see below), made by sculptur Imre Varga. [ [http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/wallenberg/tributes/statues/monument-dedicated-raoul.712.htm Monument dedicated to Raoul Wallenberg was inaugurated in Tel Aviv] - The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. Retrieved 2008-09-24.]

Sweden

In 2001, a memorial was created in Stockholm to honour Wallenberg. It was unveiled by King Carl XVI Gustaf, at a ceremony attended by the UN Secretary General at the time Kofi Annan and his wife, Wallenberg's niece. It is an abstract memorial depicting people rising from the concrete, accompanied by a bronze replica of Wallenberg's signature. [ [http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/wallenberg/tributes/world/sweden.658.htm Tributes in Sweden] International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. Retrieved 2008-09-19] At the unveiling, King Carl XVI Gustaf said Wallenberg is "a great example to those of us who want to live as fellow humans." [ [http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/wallenberg/tributes/statues/stockholm-monument-second.714.htm Stockholm monument of Second World War hero defaced] International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. Retrieved 2008-09-19] Kofi Annan praised him as "an inspiration for all of us to act when we can and to have the courage to help those who are suffering and in need of help."cite web |url= http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/wallenberg/tributes/world/659.htm|title= Tributes in United Kingdom|accessdate=2007-02-12 | publisher=International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation]

Canada

In Canada, Wallenberg became the first Honorary Citizen of Canada in 1985; [cite web | url = http://www.pch.gc.ca/newsroom/index_e.cfm?fuseaction=displayDocument&DocIDCd=2N0361 | title = Government of Canada Honours Canadian Honorary Citizen Raoul Wallenberg | accessdate = | year = 2007 | publisher = Canada] and January 17, the day he disappeared, was declared Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada. [cite web |url= http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/pdp-hrp/tribute/raoul_e.cfm|title= A Tribute to Raoul Wallenberg|accessdate=2007-02-13] Numerous memorials, parks, and monuments honouring Wallenberg can be found across Canada, These include Raoul Wallenberg Corner in Calgary, Raoul Wallenberg Park in Saskatoon, Parc Raoul Wallenberg in Nepean, Ontario, and a memorial behind Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Montreal, where a bust of Wallenberg and a caged metal box (styled as a barbed-wire gate) stand beside each other.

Budapest

In Budapest, where Wallenberg worked, Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen in 2003. There are a number of sites honoring him, among them are Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park, which commemorates those who saved many of the city's Jews from deportation to extermination camps, and the building that housed the Swedish Embassy in 1945. [cite web |url= http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/wallenberg/tributes/world/651.htm|title= Tributes in Hungary |accessdate=2007-02-12 |]

United Kingdom

There is a Raoul Wallenberg memorial at Great Cumberland Place in London, and a Raoul Wallenberg memorial is situated near the Welsh National War Memorial in Alexandra Gardens, Cardiff.

Germany

In Germany, streets are named after Wallenberg in both east and west Berlin. Wallenberg Strasse (named in 1967) is in the western district of Wilmersdorf, while Raoul-Wallenberg-Strasse (named in 1992) is in the eastern district of Marzahn.

Gallery

Awards in his name

The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States bestows the Raoul Wallenberg Award "on individuals, organizations and communities that reflect Raoul Wallenberg's humanitarian spirit, personal courage and nonviolent action in the face of enormous odds." [cite web | url = http://raoulwallenberg.org | title = The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States | accessdate = | year = 2007 | publisher = The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States]

The Wallenberg Endowment at the University of Michigan awards the Wallenberg Medal and Lecture to outstanding humanitarians. The university's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning also awards Wallenberg Scholarships to exceptional undergraduate and graduate students, many of which are given to enable students to broaden their study of architecture to include work in distant locations. [cite web | url = http://www.wallenberg.umich.edu | title = Wallenberg Medal and Lecture | accessdate = | year = 2007 | publisher = The Wallenberg Endowment]

ee also

*Ángel Sanz Briz and Jorge Pelasca
*Nicholas Winton

References

External links

* [http://www.raoulwallenberg.net International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation]
* [http://raoulwallenberg.org The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States]
* [http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr Search for Raoul Wallenberg]
* [http://www.hearthasreasons.com/bibliography.php Holocaust Rescuers Bibliography with information and links to a variety of books about Raoul Wallenberg]

Persondata
NAME=Wallenberg, Raoul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH= August 4, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH=Sweden
DATE OF DEATH=(presumed) July 16, 1947
PLACE OF DEATH=(presumed)Soviet Union