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| Raoul Wallenberg Passport Photo |
Raoul Wallenberg was one of the heroes of the Holocaust. He
was a brave defender of the lives of thousands. The Guinness Book of World Records lists him as the person who "single-handedly saved more people
from extinction than any other individual." Like many of the heroes who
fought to save lives during this dismal period in world history, his good deeds
did not go unpunished. Raoul Wallenberg disappeared near the end of World War
II. The circumstances of his disappearance have yet to be satisfactorily established.
This is a brief life story of a man who, whether he lived the remainder of his
life in captivity or died soon after his disappearance, gave his life to defend
the lives of the innocents who were threatened by one of the most monstrous
rulers the world has ever known.
Raoul Wallenberg was born on August 4, 1912. He was born
into a wealthy and famous family of bankers and politicians. However, he was
born fatherless. His father was a naval officer who died at the age of 23-three
months before his son was born. Raoul's mother made up for his loss by being a
loving mother who doted on her son. He may have even inherited his caring
nature from her. Raoul's grandfather-Gustav Wallenberg also took the young boy
under his wing. He oversaw Raoul's education.
Raoul graduated in 1930. By the time of his graduation, he
was fluent in Russian and a talented artist. He joined the Swedish army to
serve the nine months of military service that was required of Swedish men. He
finished his service by 1931, at which time he left for Ann Arbor, Michigan.
There, he attended the University of Michigan. He studied architecture and was
an excellent student. When Raoul Wallenberg graduated from the university in
1935, he received a medal for his academic achievements along with a degree in
Science in Architecture.
Raoul Wallenberg returned home to Sweden for a time after
his graduation. From there, he went to Cape Town, South Africa where he worked
as a building supplies salesman. Six months later, he went to work for a bank
in Haifa, Israel (which was then Palestine).
He returned to Sweden once again in 1936. He met a businessman named
Koloman Lauers around this time. He soon became a partner in Koloman Lauers'
Mid-European Trading Company.
Raoul Wallenberg's new business partner was a Hungarian Jew.
Through his work with Kolomar, Raoul found out the sickening truth about Adolf
Hitler. It was not long before the rest of the world knew too. It is presumably
around this time that Raoul began to feel empathy for the Jews of the world.
In March of 1944, the Nazis invaded Hungary. Roughly 700,000
Hungarians Jews became in danger of being taken, killed or both. The Nazis
began taking Jews out of Hungary and bringing them to concentration camps
almost immediately. The U.S.A.'s newly formed War Refugee Board met with
officials in Sweden to discuss what might be done to save the Jews in Hungary.
Raoul Wallenberg's business partner was among these men. When it was suggested
that someone be sent into Hungary, Lauer mentioned Raoul. After some thought,
it was decided that the intelligent, kind, resourceful young man who was fluent
in Russian would be sent.
Raoul Wallenberg arrived in Hungary in July of 1944. By that
time, more than half of the Hungarian Jews had been ripped from their homeland
by the Nazis. Raoul immediately set to work building safe houses, acquiring
barely official passes and pressuring officials. His efforts gave a large
number of Jewish people save places to live, passes to protect them from the
Nazis and he even managed to convince officials to allow him to exempt his
Jewish staff members from wearing the Star of David.
All of the above was only the tip of the iceberg for Raoul
Wallenberg. He chased down trains full of Jews to hand them passes in their
cars. He provided essentials, such as medicine, clothing and food to the
beleaguered Jews of Hungary. He was extraordinarily diligent in his efforts. He
did not work alone, but it was his willingness to badger the Nazis that made
the operation a success. In January of 1945, Raoul wrote a letter to a general
who was meant to carry out the execution of tens of thousands of Jews. Raoul
told the man, in no uncertain terms, that if he were to carry out his orders,
he would be tried when the war was over and hanged as a war criminal. The man
heeded Raoul's warning and thousands who were meant to die, lived because of
him.
The Soviet army took Hungary from the Nazis in late 1944,
early 1945. Raoul Wallenberg willingly went with a group of Soviet troops on
January 17, 1945. Raoul said goodbye to his friends, who he told that he was
not sure if he was a prisoner or a guest of the Russians. Either way, he was
thought to be on his way to the Soviet headquarters in Budapest. His friends
and family never saw him again. Click here to learn more about the
disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg.
Out of the roughly 700,000 Jews that lived in Hungary before
the war, only 120,000 of them were accounted for when World War II ended. The
large portion of them that were saved by Raoul Wallenberg never got the chance
to thank their savior.
Sources
Metzler, David, Raoul Wallenberg, retrieved 5/28/10,
jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/wallenberg.html
Bernheim, Rachel Oesteicher, A Hero For Our Time, retrieved
5/28/10, raoulwallenberg.org/raoulwallenberg_aheroforourtime.htm
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