"Having learned of the extremely harsh measures Your Government is applying against the Jewish population of Hungary, I take the liberty of intervening personally with your Serene Highness, in beseeching you to take steps to spare the surviving members of that population. This appeal to Your Generosity of spirit is dictated by my long-held feeling of friendship toward your country and my sincere wish that her good reputation in the community of nations be preserved"
- Raoul Wallenberg, in a letter to King Gustav V of Sweden, requesting the aide of the Swedish government in resistance to the Hungarian Arrow Cross
"The persecuted Jews’ only hope was Wallenberg. Like a rescuing angel he often appeared at the very last moment."
- Lars Berg
Raoul Wallenberg was born on August 5, 1912 in Stockholm, Sweden to a family of bankers, industrialists, and diplomats. The Wallenberg family was wealthy, prestigious, and privileged to the point that they were on good terms with the Swedish royal family. Raoul studied internationally and eventually became employed under a Jewish refugee, Koloman Lauer. During this time, World War II erupted, battering the European Jewish community. Sweden became the most important neutral country in the war while maintaining reasonably good relations with Germany. It became their duty then to send someone into Hungary to help admonish the havoc being wreaked upon the Jews. Koloman Lauer heard of the plan and recommended Wallenberg. Raoul readily agreed, and thus became a Swedish diplomat with a mission.
When Raoul reached Budapest, 400,000 Jews had already been deported from their native county. Only 200,000 now remained in the capital. On the warfront, a German defeat was becoming inevitable as the Russians began to surge towards Budapest. This imposing loss made the Nazi regime desperate. Their immediate goal was now to try and clear the capital of all Jews before the Russians came. Wallenberg’s objective was reactionary - he was to rescue the Jews from the Nazi’s heightening desperation.
First, Wallenberg invented the Schutzpass, a document resembling a Swedish passport. These protective papers provided Hungarian Jews with a new identity and consequently, new immunity from the Arrow Cross. "’I am distributing money to supply Jews with baptismal papers and personal identification,’" Wallenberg wrote home two weeks after his arrival in Budapest. "’This is money better spent than trying to get them out of the country,’" (Martin, 81). Knowing that the Nazi mind respected the authority behind official looking documents, Wallenberg devised a formal passport, complete with a number, official seals, the Three Crowns of Sweden, and the minister’s signature. It also stated that, while abroad, the carrier of the passport and his property was under the protection of the Swedish legation. At Wallenberg’s insistence, the Hungarian government recognized the new protective passports, allowing 5,000 of them to be issued. As he couldn’t get hold of many more passports, Wallenberg issued a simplified document that, even though printed on poor quality, was effective in protecting Jews. Long lines became common in front of the Swedish embassy. Wallenberg also hired "distributors" that would seek out Jews in the community to provide papers for. Joseph Kovacs, referred to simply as "the man in the black coat," (Rosenfield, 35), was one of these distributors. "’It often became a matter of giving a document to anyone who looked Jewish,’" Kovac explained (Rosenfield, 35). "’Once I passed a document to someone I was absolutely sure was Jewish. Much to my shock he turned out to be Nyilas policeman. He pulled out his gun to shoot me when miraculously a woman screamed from out of a window. He turned around to look and I took to my heels like an Olympic runner.’" But for the most part, the distribution of passports was an effective way to save Jewish lives. "’A forged passport was better than no document at all,’" recalls Joseph Kovacs, "’because it could become a mighty instrument in preventing deportation and death,’" (Rosenfield, 36).
Wallenberg also established a relief section that was so desperately needed that his original staff of forty exploded to four hundred. For one, with protective pass in hand, Hungarian Jews were able to enter into the "international ghetto." The ghetto, an outgrowth of Wallenberg’s "safe houses," was comprised of a number of rented houses set apart for the Jews. The emblem flown overhead, either the Swedish, Red Cross, or the other neutral countries protected these ghettos. And not only did Raoul Wallenberg secure protective passes and shelter for the Jews, but he also made sure they were given food each day. Under Wallenberg’s guidance, hospitals were set up and orphanages established. Soup kitchens supplying food, medicine, and clothes were hidden in different parts of the city.
As the Russians began to push closer to Budapest, the terror inflicted by the Arrow Cross plunged to new depths. The railroads previously used to deport Jews were blocked, hence the introduction of a new form of deportation – the death march. The Jews, freezing and malnourished, were forced to march 15 to 20 miles a day towards the Hungarian-Austrian border. On these marches, the Arrow Cross pushed the Jews on by brutally kicking them or by beating them with the butt ends of their rifles. To amuse themselves, the Nyilas staged simulated executions in which the "victims" were made to dig a common grave. Women with miscarriages were taunted and mocked. Another "game" of the Nyilas was searching Jews for money. "The victim was then undressed and beaten to death in front of the other Jews, or else put into a barrel and doused with cold water until he or she became a block of ice. Then, to increase their torment, the deportees had to file past the barrel or it was passed among them, so that they could witness the horrible sight,'" (Rosenfield, 58). It was Wallenberg’s passion to alleviate these horrors. For the afflicted Jews, Wallenberg provided hope. He would bring food and water to those in the death march. Susan Tabor remembers the death march where "’we were without food, without water, without sanitation facilities. Wallenberg told us he would try and return with safety passes. He also said that he would try to get medical attention and sanitation facilities. And true to his word, soon afterward some doctors and nurses came from the Jewish hospital,’" (Rosenfield, 58). Wallenberg would disguise Aryan-looking Jews in SS and Arrow Cross uniforms and raid Hungarian camps and prisons. Through his contacts in the government, he would receive advance notice of planned actions. He was often able to convince those in charge to revoke their plans. And "’if the official channels did not produce the desired results,’" notes Lars Berg, "’Wallenberg tried to buy time by bribing those who had to pass on or carry out the orders of the Nyilas,’" (Rosenfield, 60). In the end, "the rescuing angel," Raoul Wallenberg saved the lives of more than 100,000 Hungarian Jews.
Following the war, Wallenberg continued his refugee efforts by establishing a small department to find missing people and reunite families. It provided food and medicine, housing, bedding, and furniture – everything needed to restore life to normalcy. When the Russians arrived in Budapest, Wallenberg made plans to meet with the Russian general. Steven Radi, a prominent Jew in Hungary, recalls that "before leaving he had indicated that he was going to headquarters. He returned on January 17 in a cheerful and good mood. He thanked me personally for the hospitality at Benczur Street since the building was under my care…He took his things and left with the two Russian officers and a driver. That was the last I saw of Raoul Wallenberg. He was shy by nature – an unbelievable hero,’" (Rosenfield, 103). This was the last account of Raoul Wallenberg. Where he went, whom he was with, what happened to him still remains a mystery. The most likely scenario is that the Russians arrested Wallenberg and accused him of being a spy. He is remembered by the world as a savior to the Hungarian Jews. In the words of Tibor Baranski:
"’We were normal human beings. Certainly we both were afraid at times of the dangers in our path. What is important is that Wallenberg was able to rise above and defeat these fears and accomplish so many wonderful things. He saved 70,000 Jews when he prevented the central ghetto from being destroyed. More than 25,000 life-saving Swedish protection passes are the result of his initiative and actions. That’s almost 100,000 lives saved by one man! What else is there to say?’" (Rosenfield, 96)
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