Skip to content

Articles

The Fight of Their Lives

    By Susanne Berger Judisk Krönika, November 2009
    Independent consultant to the Swedish Russian Working Group on the fate of Raoul Wallenberg (1991-2001)

    When Raoul Wallenberg disappeared into the Soviet Union in January 1945, his parents, Maj and Fredrik von Dardel, began a desperate, three decade long struggle to save their son. A closer reading of Fredrik’s diary – a meticuluous chronicle of the couple’s efforts – shows the enormous obstacles they faced. Surprisingly many of these remain stubbornly in place today.

    Letter to 10 Presidents and Prime Ministers

      Your Excellencies, Some of you may be aware of our ongstanding correspojndance with the Europeen Parliament (copies enclosed) and your governments. For your information, with reference to the Russian government’s position on the Wallenberg case, the Russian government has officially rehabilitated Raoul Wallenberg… -> More

      The Thorny Truth

        On August 28 Dr. Guy von Dardel, Raoul Wallenberg’s maternal half-brother, died peacefully in Geneva, Switzerland, having just reached his 90th birthday. On September 3, at a simple but elegant ceremony at the Eglise Evangelique, von Dardel’s notable contributions were celebrated in a heartfelt eulogy. However, his death received little coverage in his native Sweden, despite his membership in the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences and previous position as Professor of Physics at Lund University.

        Solve Wallenberg Mystery Now

          This spring marks the 65th anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg’s mission to Hungary. Earlier this week, Holocaust Remembrance Day was held in Ottawa, with survivors, MPs and senators from all parties, ambassadors from about fifty countries and many others recalling the worst catastrophe in recorded history inflicted by Hitler’s regime, which included one and a half million children among the six million murdered.

          The Universal Hero Raoul Wallenberg


            In Sweden, many people are quite tired of Raoul Wallenberg. They, as Swedes, may not shout out directly ‘Do not bother us with this old story again’ but from their reluctant reactions you recognize at once, you better be quiet. However, their reactions could also be understood in a more positive sense. In Sweden, heroes are not very popular – it is a nation driven by the wish to build a democratic society which should be open for each and every one; that also means that no one should stick out! If we leave out the moral guilt official Sweden feels for one of their greatest sons, whom they ingloriously abandoned after the end of World War II when Raoul Wallenberg became a prisoner of the Soviet Union, we understand that the Swedish reactions are not quite as inappropriate as they may seem at first.

            The Wallenberg Curse

              STOCKHOLM — In neat script, blue ink on white letterhead, Fredrik von Dardel began writing to the stepson he had long been told to leave for dead: “Dear beloved Raoul.”

              It was March 24, 1956. He always wrote at his living-room table, his wife, Maria, looking on from a corner of the couch by the phone. On a chest, a spray of flowers she kept fresh stood beside a picture of her son, Raoul Wallenberg.