Wallenberg saved 100,000 Jews in WW2, but was disappeared by Soviet communists on this day 80 years ago.

 “I will never be able to go back to Sweden without knowing inside myself that I'd done all a man could do to save as many Jews as possible.” - Raoul Wallenberg, Letter and Dispatches 1924 - 1944 

Raoul Wallenberg (Aug. 4, 1912 - disappeared Jan. 17, 1945)

Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat saved 100,000 Jews in Hungary, according to the World Jewish Congress. He was imprisoned and disappeared by Soviet military intelligence (MERSH) after the war 80 years ago today.

Today is Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada in honor of his couragous example. Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of parliament, in an OpEd in The Jerusalem Post, described the rescue carried out by Wallenberg:

"From mid-May to the beginning of July 1944, some 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz – the fastest, cruelest, and most efficient killing field in the Holocaust. Wallenberg arrived as a member of the Swedish Legation in Budapest in mid-July 1944. In a remarkable demonstration of ingenuity and inspiration, bluff and bravado, he rescued some 100,000 Jews in the last six months of 1944 and the beginning of 1945, more than any other single government or organization."

Nonviolent resistance to the radical evil of the Nazis by courageous Danes and German housewives also worked and saved thousands of Jewish people from the Holocaust.

It should come as no surprise that Wallenberg was abducted by Soviet Communist forces. The Nazis and the Soviets had been partners in the partition and conquest of Poland six years prior, in September 1939. 

Today, on #RaoulWallenberg Commemorative Day, we honour the enduring legacy of Swedish diplomat and hero of the Holocaust Raoul Wallenberg, a hero who refused to be a bystander. We also mark 80 years since his disappearance into the Soviet Gulag- a profound and ongoing injustice.… pic.twitter.com/54p7TdQRFb

— Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (@TheRWCHR) January 17, 2025

Let us honor Raoul Wallenberg for all the lives he saved, and let us also continue to demand justice for him, who had his life taken by Josef Stalin. The Russians refuse to reveal what they did to Wallenberg, and his family has filed a lawsuit against them. In 2016, Sweden declared him dead. 

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg.

Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg displayed outstanding civil courage and bravery when he saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.

Let us honour his memory by continuing to stand up against… pic.twitter.com/CgdhQlI8UY

— Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (@SweMFA) January 17, 2025