Stories from WW2

[Jet]

Raoul Wallenberg
Righteous Among the Nations

To me there's no other choice.
I've accepted this assignment and I could never return
to Stockholm without the knowledge that I'd done everything in human
power to save as many Jews as possible. — Raoul Wallenberg

Being a history buff, I used to watch The History Channel religiously until I noticed that they seemed to air documentaries and footage of Hitler constantly. Finally, I wrote an email to their programming department asking why they felt it necessary to to glorify Adolph Hitler by giving that madman so much air time and very little air time to heroes of the Holocaust, or other topics on WWII for that matter. I wanted to know why they were absorbed with footage of atrocities, and if they were aware that incredible heroism did take place to save thousands of victims of the Holocaust. And then, having the temper and mouth that I have, I wanted to know what neo-Nazi on their staff was making programming decisions in favor of airing Hitler, who wasn't anything to look at anyway. I was hot under the collar because their programming was so tilted and I wanted a more fair and wider range of programming subjects regarding WWII. The gutless wonders never wrote back.

That said, I'd like to post some information about an incredible man named Raoul Wallenberg and links to the Wallenberg foundation and Yad Vashem. Wallenberg is credited for saving 30,000 Hungarian Jews, but it's more around the figure of 100,000, and he considered one of the foremost heroes of WWII.


Raoul Wallenberg (August 4, 1912 – July 17, 1947?) was a Swedish humanitarian who worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Between July and December 1944, he issued protective passports and housed Jews, saving tens of thousands of Jewish lives.

On January 17, 1945, he was arrested in Budapest by the Soviets after they wrested control of the city from the Germans, and was reported to have died in March. The exact circumstances of his death have long been in dispute. In 1957, the Soviets claimed that Wallenberg had actually died of a heart attack in 1947 at the age of 35. There had been reports, however, from prisoners in the same facility, that he was seen alive long past 1947. In 1991, Vyacheslav Nikonov was assigned by the Russian government to find out the truth; he concluded that Wallenberg did indeed die in 1947, executed while a prisoner at Lubyanka.[6] Associated Press reported in April 2010, that newly discovered evidence shows "with great likelihood" that Wallenberg was alive after the date the Soviets claimed he died.

Protective passport made by Wallenberg

Wallenberg has been honored numerous times. He is an honorary citizen of the United States, Canada, Hungary and Israel. Israel has also designated Wallenberg one of the Righteous among the Nations. Monuments have been dedicated to him, and streets have been named after him throughout the world. A Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States was created in 1981 to "perpetuate the humanitarian ideals and the nonviolent courage of Raoul Wallenberg" and gives out the Raoul Wallenberg Award to that end.

For more facts on Raoul Wallenberg, please visit:


The Raoul Wallenberg International Foundation
http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/w...graphy.611.htm

Raoul Wallenberg Honored as Righteous Among the Nations, Yad Vashem
http://www1.yadvashem.org/righteous_...allenberg.html