Introduction

Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat and businessman who saved a hundred thousand Jews from the Nazi Holocaust. If you ask anyone who Raoul Wallenberg is, the chances are, they havenıt heard of him. This great feat which he performed surely deserves more credit than that? Oskar Schindler, saved a thousand Jews from the holocaust. A mere figure compared to that of a hundred thousand. Schindler has had a book written about him, a film made about him, Raoul Wallenberg deserves more, and should be more well known to the world. In the days of July 1944, Raoul left the comfort of his home in Sweden and headed off to Nazi-controlled Hungary. There, seven-hundred and fifty Jewish men, women and children were destined to be killed. Wallenbergıs mission: to rescue as many of these as he could. This mass killing was the last part of the so-called ³Final Solution² by the Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler. Millions had already been killed, and now, Hungary, the last remaining Jewish community, was next. Raoul Wallenberg was armed with his diplomatic passport, money, and list with a few names on it. His task seemed hopeless. Born on August the 5th, 1912, in Stockholm, Sweden, Raoul was the son of a wealthy, prestigious family of bankers, industrialists and diplomats. They were one of the greatest, richest, and most privileged families in Sweden, and were also on good terms with the Swedish royal family. Unfortunately, Raoul never knew his father, who died of cancer three months before his birth. But Maj, Raoulıs determined, beautiful mother, and his grandmother didnıt allow this to change his life. They showered him with love and attention, and when he was six, his mother remarried, resulting in Raoul having a brother and a sister. Raoulıs grandfather; Gustav Wallenberg, who was a famous diplomat, was the man in charge of his grandsonıs education. By the time Raoul left school, he could speak English, German and Russian, and even after his military service, he was sent to France to perfect his French. Gustav desired for his grandson to become a banker, yet the latter was more interested in architecture, and was sent to the U.S. to study it. He proved to be a hardworking student and was the top of his class of one thousand, one hundred people. In America, Raoul enjoyed himself, hitch-hiking, meeting people, knowing that many of his countrymen had become successful here. However, after his studies, Raoul decided to experience the job of banking in Cape Town, South Africa in 1936, but found it to his disliking. His grandfather on the other hand, did not like the idea of Raoul doing something else. Only, when Gustav died a year later, Raoul was free to choose his own career. He could not become an architect as he much desired, as his American qualifications were not recognised in Sweden. Finally, through family connections, Raoul managed to find a job under a Jewish refugee, Koloman Lauer, who owned an import-export business of exotic food. With Raoulıs knowledge of languages and his charm, this was the perfect job for him, and it took him all around Europe, and within eight months, he became a director.

Anti-Semitism

In Germany, events began to unfold which were to change the life of Raoul, and everyone in the world. Hitler came to power in the early 1930s. He brought with him, Nazism, a hate-filled new creed. Hitler believed that there were certain types of people that were biologically superior to others. According to this idea, which was an extremely racist concept, Jews, Slavs, blacks and all non-Europeans were called ³untermenschen² or ³sub-humans². Germans and ³Aryans², especially those with blonde hair and blue eyes, were called the ³master-race². Hitler hated all types of people, communists, homosexuals, intellectuals, gypsies, people with mental and physical disabilities, and many others, However, above all, he hated the Jews most, who he believed to be the source of all Germanyıs problems. Anti-Semitism was not a new idea, throughout history, they had been under persecution from one group or another. The Romans hated them, as they believed in only one God. Early Popes accused the Jews of killing Jesus, which caused their hatred. In the Middle Ages, the Jews were said to be anti-Christs in league with the devil. Surprisingly, Martin Luther King, was very anit-semitic. He described Jews as ³...a plague, pestilence and pure misfortune.² They were ³...worse than the devil...² , he said, and even encouraged his followers to burn down synagogues. For many centuries, this sort of attitude toward the Jews was widely accepted. If there was to be a natural disaster such as an outbreak of a plague, the Jews were blamed for it, and angry mobs would take revenge by destroying the local Jewish community. However, towards the 19th Century, life began to improve for the Jews as more Christian leaders turned against the anti-Jewish teaching, and a more modern and emancipated Europe came into being. This didnıt mean that anti-semitism had gone away though. It just meant it couldnıt be performed so blatantly. However, this didnıt change the fact that Hitler hated the Jews so much that he wanted to kill everyone of them. In 1933, nothing prepared them for the terrible onslaught that was to follow. Even before Hitler's rule in 1933, Nazi supporters would beat up Jews in the streets. Slowly, as Hitler became more and more dominating in society, he banned Jews from universities, the arts and professions. Within a few years of Hitlerıs reign, the Nazi terror began to spread onto nearby countries. Noone wanted the Jews to be absorbed into their countries, which led to their entrapment in Europe. World War II begun and Hitler took over most of Europe, and now, he begun his own personal conquest to destroy the Jews completely. Jewish people were rounded up into concentration camps, where hundreds, or thousands of Jews were killed in one time in the gas chambers. When they were put on trains going to the death camps, they were told they were being sent to the Middle East, to resettle there, however, when they reached the camp, they were told that they would be given a mug of tea, and put to work, but first they were told that they were to have a shower. Frightened, exhausted and unaware of the horrific things they would be subjected to, they willingly followed the Naziıs commands, only walking to their death. As these cruel realities became known to the outside world during the period from 1941 to 1945, most people did nothing to help the victims. Pleas for help were ignored, on one case, a Jewish refugee ship with 769 Jews on board was rejected from Palestine by the British, resulting in all their deaths. Yet, at the same time, there were thousands of brave, ordinary people, mostly Christians, who risked their lives to help and hide Jews from the onslaught. There were some large scale savings in countries like Denmark where the whole nation refused to accept the cruel Nazi anti-Jewish laws, and only a few Jews were actually captured and killed. In Bulgaria, everyone refused the Nazi demands for action against the Jews. No trains left the country going to concentration camps. Even in Italy, a country which was in alliance with Germany, the officials did their best to save Jewish lives. These acts of heroism and courage varied from scale to scale, but few would be more extraordinary than those of Raoul Wallenberg, in his attempt to save Hungaryıs Jews.

Swedenıs Role in the Saving of Jews

During the period of the Second World War, it seemed that the only place people could go if help was needed for the Jews, was Sweden. This was mainly because it was the most important neutral country left in Europe and was still on reasonably good relations with Germany. The War Refugee Board needed someone to be sent into Hungary, where someone could do something to help the Jews there. Sweden agreed to send someone there, but the question was, who? When Koloman Lauer heard of the plan, he recommended Raoul Wallenberg, who was more than willing to help. By this time, it was 1944, and Raoul would have to hurry, as soon, there would be no more Jews left in Hungary to save. Raoul was in a desperate situation, he would have to cut corners, bribe, cajole and con his way through the senior officials. He demanded and was given diplomatic status and issued with Swedish neutral passports to give to the Jews and make them appear Swedish, thus freeing them from persecution. Raoul had enough money to provide thousands of Jews with safe houses and food, and even enough to bribe officials. However, Raoul had to hurry, or there might not be any Jews left to save.

Raoulıs Mission

When Raoul reached Budapest, 400,000 men, women and children had apparently been deported from the provinces. Now, only about 200,000 Jews remained in the capital. The Germans knew that they were losing the war, and now the only question was: ³Could they clear the capital of all the Jews before the oncoming Russians took Budapest?² For Wallenberg, the question was: ³How many Jews could he rescue before the city was liberated?² Against the determination of ŒEichmannı a German whoıs mission was to rid the world of Jews, Wallenberg would work endlessly for another six months in an attempt to save Hungaryıs Jews. Using his imagination and wits, he would become the most noble hero of the Holocaust. Raoulıs first job was to find a practical way to help the Jewish people. In his time spent in Germany, he realised that Germans had extreme respect for officials and authority. This willingness of ordinary Germans to follow orders had been one of the main factors in the destruction of the Jews, and now, Wallenberg was going to use it against them. Raoul invented the Schutzpass, a document which looked like a passport. It carried the holderıs photograph and was covered in blue and gold, like that of neutral Swedenıs national flag. This document looked extremely real, yet it was it was amazingly fake. The pass had no legal status, but because of its realistic appearance, the Nazis believed it to be genuine, and now, all Jews who held the Schutzpass were protected from their deaths. Gradually, as time passed, Raoul managed to send out 4,500 of these passes, and trebled that number by bribing Hungarian officials to turn a blind eye. As he couldnıt get hold of many more Œpassportsıı he he issued a simplified document, which, even though printed on poor quality paper, was extremely effective for protecting Jews. Soon, other embassies in Budapest took on Wallenbergıs brilliant idea, and issued their own passes, and within weeks, thousands were saved with these fake documents. Raoul Wallenbergıs act of heroism lifted morale among the Jews. They now knew that they werenıt friendless, and felt like human beings again. Raoulıs mission in Budapest wasnıt only distributing these fake documents, in fact, he did a lot more. From the time when he arrived in Budapest on July 9th, 1944, he started a huge project. Raoul set up his own relief section called ŒSection Cı. His staff of fourty, expanded to four hundred and they worked night and day. Huge deliveries of food were sent to the ghetto everyday, and without fail for the months to come. Raoul even persuaded officials to prevent the Jews from wearing the yellow star, which pronounced them as Jews. Raoul managed to gain the respect of the local Nazis, and he made an astounding impression. At this point, international pressure on the Hungarian leader, Admiral Horthy, was mounting which ended up in the suspension of death trains. This was an opportunity for Raoul, and he concentrated on relief work, to reduce the suffering of the Jews. Hospitals were set up, orphanages and soup kitchens were also brought in, supplying food, medicine and clothes, which were hidden in different parts of the city. However, groups of Hungarian fascists were dragging Jews off the streets. To prevent these incidents from happening, Raoul had yet another brilliant idea. ³Safe houses² were set up were pass holders could live protected by the Swedish government. Soon, the Swedish flag was waving outside these houses next to the Star of David. Swiss and International Red Cross officials followed this idea and as a result, even more thousands of lives were saved, even though these buildings were not always respected. One of Wallenberg's important tactics was to get to know people high up who could help him in the mission to save the Jews. Dr. Istavan Szondy, a dentist working at the time, recalls Wallenberg turning the second floor of his building into a ³Safe House² and 270 Jews ended up staying there. Also at the time, there was a deputy foreign minister, Zoltan Bagosi, who was one of Szondyıs patients. When he was introduced to Raoul, Bagosi asked for Swedish protection for himself and his son against the Russians. Wallenberg cleverly promised his help, if Bagosi could help protect his Jews. A deal was struck and fortunately, a short while afterwards, 250 of the Jews were seized, and with the help of Bagosi, they were saved, and returned to the ³Safe House². However, all was not well, for on October 15th, 1944, the Hungarian Nazi Party : The Arrow Cross, seized power and wreaked havoc for the Jews. Eichmann returned to Budapest on October 17th. He organised the death marches where men, women and children would march for days, and anyone who fell from exhaustion was beaten to death, or just shot. When Wallenberg heard of these marches, he immediately took action, saving as many as he could. Time after time, he gave food to the exhausted, and encouragement. Raoul would shout at the officers to release the Swedish pass-holders. Even at this point, documents were being given out while the officials were busy discussing with Raoul. Despite all of his efforts, thousands out of hundreds of thousands were saved, and the death marches continued up 'til November 24th, 1944, when international protests ceased them. But that did not mean that the suffering of the Jews had stopped also. In the same month, Budapest fell into a state of murderous anarchy. Groups of Arrow Cross killers roamed the streets and broke into ³Safe Houses² murdering men, women and even children. Hospitals were broken into also, and patients were dragged out and shot. Wallenberg, also, was a target, but luckily escaped from the chaos. Jews who were found were taken to the River Danube, tied together, shot and dumped in, their bodies used for target practice. However, amidst the chaos, Raoul would still come out and save Jews, he would leap out in front of Jews, protesting to Hungarians to let the Jewish pass-holders to go free. The city of Budapest was in fear. Arrow Cross members came into the ghettos and dragged people away to be murdered. Starvation, disease and depression were all present. Furniture had to be cut up for firewood, and there were quarrels about food in the ghetto. There was overcrowding, and many died in the last weeks of 1944. The fate of the Jews of Budapest was now in the hands of the fanatical Nazi Eichmann, and those of the saviour, Raoul Wallenberg. The two arch-enemies actually met at one point, and Raoul tried to convince Eichmann of his feeble attempt at power, as he showed the lights of the oncoming Russians from the east. Raoul even attacked fascism, questioning Eichmannıs mad belief. However, Eichmann ignored the facts, and left. Amazingly, two days later, a German truck Œaccidentallyı crashed into Raoulıs car, and completely destroyed it. Fortunately, Raoul was not in the car at the time. By late December 1944, the Russians were almost at the city. Raoul; was now on the run himself, and he had to stay in a different place every night. By the end of December, the Russians had surrounded Budapest, and the Arrow Cross leader had already fled. Eichmann planned to leave on Christmas Eve, but, still, he had the determination to destroy every Jew in the city. He ordered the massacre of the sixty thousand Jews in the central ghetto. However, Raoul would again, prove himself a worthy opponent of Eichmann, and sent a letter to General Schmidthuber, the man put in charge of the mass murder. The note read:

³If you do not stop this now, I can guarantee you will be hanged as a war criminal.²

Schmidthuber delayed the action for several minutes before actually backing down. The sixty thousand Jews in the ghetto were miraculously saved. In January, 1945, the Nazi Budapest nightmare finally ended. The Russian army entered the city and halted the Nazi terror. The Jews were saved. However, in this moment of glory, the story of Raoul Wallenberg changed dramatically, and one of the greatest, and bravest men in the Second World War, who saved more than 100,000 people was about to be treated like a criminal.

The Mystery of Raoul Wallenberg

Ironically, Raoul now faced a new danger after the Arrow Cross, and it came from the same side that he was on. Raoul had begun to think about how to help the Jews after the war as it became obvious that the Nazi defeat was going to occur. He set up a small department to find missing people and reunite families. Food and medicine would be needed, housing bedding and furniture. Raoul had plans for everything needed to restore normal life. When the Russians arrived, he wanted to share his plans with them. He and his driver, Vilmos Langfelder, obtained a permit to meet with the Russian general. Wallenberg left with a large suitcase, maybe containing money to obtain supplies and bribe more officials, maybe also some important documents. Raoul innocently smiled, and waved goodbye to his friends and colleagues, for the last time. What happened to Raoul Wallenberg after that is unclear. One fact that is clear, is that Raoul was arrested, not listened to. The Russian police probably thought of him as a spy. According to the Russians, by the first week of February 1945, Wallenberg and his driver were locked up in the Lubianka prison in Moscow. But as weeks and months and years passed by, many people began to think that Raoul Wallenberg was dead. What was even more astounding was that noone seemed to care about the suffering of the Jews, yet alone the Jewıs saviour, Raoul Wallenberg. The Swedish government, and the American government failed to take action in finding Raoul Wallenberg. Amazingly, as the years passed by, the hero of Budapest was a forgotten man. There were various stories and rumours to where Raoul Wallenberg had gotten to, some said he was still in the Soviet Union, while others said he was dead.

Raoul is Remembered

The Jews of Budapest never have forgotten their saviour. A committee was set up to collect funds for a Wallenberg memorial, which was twisted into a different meaning by Russian soldiers. The sculpture which was produced showed a man fighting a serpent, covered with Nazi swastikas. The Russians erased the swastikas and placed it outside a drug factory in Debrecen. People are told that this symbolises the conflict between man and disease. Not that the serpent was meant to symbolise fascism, and the man, Raoul Wallenberg. Until 1987, the only official reminder of Wallenberg was a street which runs down the Danube, named ³Wallenberg Street². However, in 1987, the Hungarian Government allowed the Wallenberg Monument by Imre Varga to be unveiled in Budapest. When many Hungarian Jews settled in Israel, two streets were named after him. He is also remembered at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Authority, where, in 1979, a tree was planted in his memory in the Avenue of the Righteous. There is another memorial and a recreation area in the Jerusalem forest outside Yad Vashem. Wallenberg was also made Israelıs first honorary citizen, and also an honorary citizen of the U.S. and Canada. Other streets were named after Raoul, such as ³Wallenberg Avenue² in Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. The last ever recorded sighting of Raoul Wallenberg was in 1983, in a Soviet prison, and his friends and family are still campaigning for his release.

Conclusion

It is obvious that Raoul Wallenberg is not widely known in the present day world. This great man, who saved no less than 100,000 Jews in the Holocaust, definitely deserves more publicity, more fame. His apparent captivity is not worthy of his great deeds. The surviving Jews, about 75,000, have tried their best to keep their Œsaviourısı name alive, and even now, are still convinced that he is still alive in Russia. I personally believe that this situation is a sad one, a hero, treated like a criminal, and like others, desire for his release, if he is still alive to this day.

Unfortunately, I have no address or phone no. to give to you to contact. They may have a web site on the 'net, maybe I''ll try looking.

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