Wallenberg, Raoul

Wallenberg, Raoul
(1912–?)
   A Swedish diplomat who was responsible for saving the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest, Hungary, on the eve of the Nazi deportations in 1944. Recruited by the Swedish government upon the recommendation of the War Refugee Board, Wallenberg had a task to help protect the 200,000 Jews residing in Budapest from deportation to the death camps. The strategy devised by the Swedish embassy was to issue provisional Swedish “protective passports” to Hungarian Jews. As the Swedish legation attache, Wallenberg over a period of three months issued thousands of these passports to Jews that the Hungarian and German officials reluctantly honored. He also exhibited courage in his response to the death marches, whereby thousands of Jews were being force-marched to the Austrian border. Wallenberg followed the convoy and was able to secure the release of those Jews with protective passports.
   Wallenberg was also instrumental in setting up special hostels that came under the protection of the foreign embassies in Budapest. Some 15,000 Jews found their way into the 31 protected houses, which formed an “international ghetto.” Wallenberg also established a number of centers for children under the protection of the International Committee of the Red Cross, thereby saving the lives of about 8,000 Jewish children. Following the Soviet liberation of Hungary in January 1945, Wallenberg was arrested and accused of being an American agent, and was never heard from again.
   See also Righteous Gentiles.

Historical dictionary of the Holocaust. . 2014.

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  • Wallenberg, Raoul — (1912–?47)    Swedish rescuer of Hungarian Jews. A businessman with diplomatic affiliations, Wallenberg was sent in July 1944 as an attaché to the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, with the special mission of saving Jews who had Swedish nationality or …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Wallenberg, Raoul — (1913–1947?)    As a Swedish diplomat, Wallenberg saved thousands of Hungarian Jews caught between the Nazi authorities in Budapest and the advancing Red Army. He was able to document many Jews as citizens of neutral states, and on more than one… …   Historical dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence

  • Wallenberg, Raoul — (4 ago. 1912, Estocolmo, Suecia–17 jul. ¿1947?, Moscú, Rusia, URSS). Empresario humanitario sueco. Descendiente de una familia de banqueros, industriales y diplomáticos, en 1936 se convirtió en el representante extranjero de una compañía… …   Enciclopedia Universal

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  • 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… …   Wikipedia

  • Raoul Wallenberg — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Wallenberg. Raoul Wallenberg (photo de son passeport, datant de juin 1944). Raoul Wallenberg, né le 4 août 1912 prè …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Raoul — (as used in expressions) Dufy Raoul Salan Raoul Albin Louis Steiner Maximilian Raoul Walter Wallenberg Raoul Walsh Raoul * * * …   Universalium

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