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PAYING TRIBUTE TO RAOUL WALLENBERG AND HIS LEGACY
NEWS | AUGUST 8, 2014 2:40 PM
WASHINGTON -- Raoul Wallenberg was born into an aristocratic Swedish
banking family on August 4, 1912, and his father died when Raoul was
three months old. Raised by his mother and grandfather, he studied
architecture, then joined his family s banking business, and gained
experience in a branch of the Holland Bank in Haifa, Palestine,
where he first came in contact with Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.
Returning to Sweden, where he continued his banking and business
career, in 1944, he learned that the Swedish government was looking
for an appropriate candidate to work in its embassy in Budapest,
Hungary, as a cover for the US-based War Refugee Board. The purpose
was to save the remnants of Hungarian Jewry, which at the time was
being systematically decimated by the Germans, who had occupied
Hungary on March 19, 1944, and their Hungarian collaborators.
On July 9, 2014, Wallenberg was awarded the Congressional Gold
Medal during a ceremony in the US Congress. The International
Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) was the driving force behind the
initiative to present the prestigious award to the Swedish hero.
According to Eduardo Eurnekian, the chairman of the IRWF, "We hope
that this well-merited recognition by the US Congress will raise the
awareness to Wallenberg's legacy and personal fate, and will serve as
a catalyst to resolve the mystery of his disappearance in the hands
of the Soviets."
The Wallenberg Foundation bestowed upon Nina Lagergren a silver medal
specially coined by renowned silversmith Carlos Pallarols. Moreover,
the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation received public
recognition by members of the US Congress for his relentless efforts
in promoting the deeds of Wallenberg as well as of other thousands
of Holocaust Saviors.
In 2012, the centennial year of the birth of Wallenberg, President
Barack Obama, himself born on August 4, addressed a video message
exclusively dedicated to the "Hero without a Grave" for the first time
ever in US history. Wallenberg is one of the few Honorary Citizens
of the United States.
Regarding the fate of Wallenberg we consider that he is alive until
proven otherwise. The central archives of Russia s Federal Security
Service (FSB) should allow unfettered access to documentation that
could shed light into the fate of Wallenberg. The fact that almost 70
years after Wallenberg s abduction and disappearance the Russians are
still reluctant to offer access to vital information is absolutely
baffling.
For many years now, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation has
stood by Prof. Guy von Dardel, a champion of the cause, as well as by
other relatives of Wallenberg in their just quest to secure reliable
answers to this tragic affair. Their noble perseverance is a source
of inspiration for us.
To this end the Wallenberg Foundation, a global-reach NGO devoted to
research, preserve and divulge the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg and of
many other saviors, has instituted a $500,000 reward to any person
or entity coming forward with reliable information concerning the
whereabouts of Wallenberg and his driver, Vilmos Langfelder.
- See more at:
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2014/08/08/paying-tribute-to-raoul-wallenberg-and-his-legacy/#sthash.FabySHDH.dpuf
NEWS | AUGUST 8, 2014 2:40 PM
WASHINGTON -- Raoul Wallenberg was born into an aristocratic Swedish
banking family on August 4, 1912, and his father died when Raoul was
three months old. Raised by his mother and grandfather, he studied
architecture, then joined his family s banking business, and gained
experience in a branch of the Holland Bank in Haifa, Palestine,
where he first came in contact with Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.
Returning to Sweden, where he continued his banking and business
career, in 1944, he learned that the Swedish government was looking
for an appropriate candidate to work in its embassy in Budapest,
Hungary, as a cover for the US-based War Refugee Board. The purpose
was to save the remnants of Hungarian Jewry, which at the time was
being systematically decimated by the Germans, who had occupied
Hungary on March 19, 1944, and their Hungarian collaborators.
On July 9, 2014, Wallenberg was awarded the Congressional Gold
Medal during a ceremony in the US Congress. The International
Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) was the driving force behind the
initiative to present the prestigious award to the Swedish hero.
According to Eduardo Eurnekian, the chairman of the IRWF, "We hope
that this well-merited recognition by the US Congress will raise the
awareness to Wallenberg's legacy and personal fate, and will serve as
a catalyst to resolve the mystery of his disappearance in the hands
of the Soviets."
The Wallenberg Foundation bestowed upon Nina Lagergren a silver medal
specially coined by renowned silversmith Carlos Pallarols. Moreover,
the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation received public
recognition by members of the US Congress for his relentless efforts
in promoting the deeds of Wallenberg as well as of other thousands
of Holocaust Saviors.
In 2012, the centennial year of the birth of Wallenberg, President
Barack Obama, himself born on August 4, addressed a video message
exclusively dedicated to the "Hero without a Grave" for the first time
ever in US history. Wallenberg is one of the few Honorary Citizens
of the United States.
Regarding the fate of Wallenberg we consider that he is alive until
proven otherwise. The central archives of Russia s Federal Security
Service (FSB) should allow unfettered access to documentation that
could shed light into the fate of Wallenberg. The fact that almost 70
years after Wallenberg s abduction and disappearance the Russians are
still reluctant to offer access to vital information is absolutely
baffling.
For many years now, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation has
stood by Prof. Guy von Dardel, a champion of the cause, as well as by
other relatives of Wallenberg in their just quest to secure reliable
answers to this tragic affair. Their noble perseverance is a source
of inspiration for us.
To this end the Wallenberg Foundation, a global-reach NGO devoted to
research, preserve and divulge the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg and of
many other saviors, has instituted a $500,000 reward to any person
or entity coming forward with reliable information concerning the
whereabouts of Wallenberg and his driver, Vilmos Langfelder.
- See more at:
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2014/08/08/paying-tribute-to-raoul-wallenberg-and-his-legacy/#sthash.FabySHDH.dpuf