Google translation from russia. Rearranged by Maribeth Barber.
Swedish businessman and diplomat Raoul Gustav Wallenberg was born on August 4, 1912 to one of the wealthiest families in Sweden. He studied at the University of Michigan (USA), where he received his diploma in architecture. In 1936 he went to work in Haifa (then part of Palestine).
He returned to Sweden in 1939 and became a partner in Kalman Lauer’s Hungarian export-import firm. In the summer of 1944, as the first secretary of the Swedish Mission, Wallenberg went to Budapest. Hungary, in March 1944, had been invaded by German troops. Taking advantage of his diplomatic immunity, Wallenberg saved, according to various sources, from 20 to 100 thousand Jews by issuing them Swedish passports. He placed them in specially purchased houses that were proclaimed as Swedish property, and thus were protected by international law. He also bribed German and Hungarian officials, promising ample supplies in exchange for Jewish lives.
On January 13, 1945, Wallenberg was arrested by the Soviet patrol in the International Red Cross building in Budapest. (In another version of the story, he came to the location of the 151st Infantry Division and asked for a meeting with the Soviet command. According to a third account, he was arrested at his apartment.) After being questioned, he was sent under guard to Debrecen for a meeting with the commander of the Second Ukrainian Front, Rodion Malinovsky, who wanted to speak with him. On the road he was again detained and arrested by military intelligence (in another account, he was sent to the headquarters of a group of Soviet troops after being arrested in his apartment).
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
In the historical center of Budapest, on the street Dohoney is an unusual monument – a weeping willow. Her thin metal branches – leaves-plate engraved with the names of Hungarian Jews – Holocaust victims. Near willow plaque of black granite with the names of people fleeing the Nazis were doomed to inevitable destruction of the Jews. The first name on the list – Raoul Wallenberg. Thanks to Swedish diplomat Wallenberg, who worked in the Nazis occupied Budapest in 1944, sent to death camps escaped several thousand people. January 17, 1945 Raoul Wallenberg was arrested in Budapest by Soviet troops and disappeared.
Determining the fate of Raoul Wallenberg for many years by specialists from different countries. Nearly a decade led the search for historical records joint Russian-Swedish Working Group, established by intergovernmental agreement. We investigated many versions examined hundreds of volumes of archival documents, held meetings with dozens of people. But the researchers did not find the answers to critical questions: why the Soviet secret services was needed Wallenberg, what are the details of his stay in Soviet prisons, finally, what is the real reason and the date of his death? Documents related to Raoul Wallenberg, access is limited. Materials stored in the Central Archives of the Federal Security Service, in conjunction with the report of the Russian-Swedish group, and other documentary sources, allow to some extent to recreate a historical retrospective.
Actions done by Raoul Wallenberg’s nearest family.
Maj Wallenberg’s husband Raoul died when she was pregnant and gave her new born baby the same name as his father, Raoul. Maj Wallenberg married Fredrik von Dardel some years later.
When Raoul Wallenberg diseapared in the URSS Maj together with her husband’s, Fredrik von Dardel, fought daily to get her son Raoul back home.
Fredrik and Maj von Dardel, 1975, Expressen
Fredrik von Dardel considered him as his son and was of a very precious help to his wife’s fight. He wrote a diary, with detailed historical facts about their fight.
Fredrik and Maj got two children Guy and Nina, married to Gunnar Lagergren.
Nina Lagergren has been much engaged at the Raoul Wallenberg association in Stockholm and has been very active with education at school with the Raoul Wallenberg Acadamy for young leaders.
Guy von Dardel, Raoul Wallenberg’s half brother, elementary partical physicist at CERN, fought since his abduction to get his brother home. It was due to his efforts that the first International Commission on the Fate and Whereabouts of Raoul Wallenberg was established and that this group did groundbreaking work in Russian prison archives.
Prof. Guy von Dardel, a well known figure at CERN and in the international particle-physics community Image credit: Len Sirman Press
Guy von Dardel passed away in August 28 2009, after having hoped up to the last day to get the truth about his brother’s Fate. Guy von Dardel often said “The truth can and will be found and it will be, as the Romans said long ago, « a monument more durable than marble. »”. He left 85 archive boxes after a life long research for his brother. Writing letters to Swedish, American, Russian, Israelis Prime Ministers, Ministers, Presidents (his first was to President Truman) and other personalities.
Guy von Dardel as a private person, sues URSS in 1984. Five years late, in 1989 Guy von Dardel and his sister Nina Lagergren receives Raoul Wallenberg’s belongings at the time of his arrest (diplomatic passport; an ID, a diary; a golden cigarette case and money in old dollars and Hungarian pengos).
He also requested for Raoul Wallenberg being rehabilitated, which was approved by the Russian Government in 2000.
Since 2001, in spite of Prime Minister Persson’s apology, the family has not seen any change of attitude by the Swedish Foreign Office regarding the Raoul Wallenberg case. The same year Guy von Dardel made a report summarizing the research that has been done.
Attorney-General has decided to rehabilitate the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and his driver Vilmos Langfeldera. This RIA Novosti reported in the Office of Information and Public Relations Prosecutor General’s Office.
After verification, prosecutors concluded that the two Swedes “were repressed by Soviet authorities for political reasons.” In this regard, they are subject to a Federal Law “On Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression on Oct. 18, 1991.
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg was arrested by Stalin’s regime during the Second World War. He worked at the Swedish embassy in Budapest. Using diplomatic status, Wallenberg saved the Nazi-occupied Hungary, Jews who were sent to concentration camps. He gave them Swedish passports, hiding them in the imaginary Swedish missions, bribed and intimidated the occupation authorities.
Last colleagues saw Raoul Wallenberg 17 January 1945, when he went to meet with the commander of Soviet troops in Budapest. Initially, the Soviet Foreign Ministry claimed that Wallenberg is under the protection of Soviet troops. Then, in a personal note, Ambassador of Sweden, on August 18, 1947 reported the death of Wallenberg in Budapest during the battle for the city.
In 1991 he established the Russian-Swedish commission of inquiry into the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg.
