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Welcome to the RWC News room. Here you will find regular updates on news reporting about Raoul Wallenberg, A STUDY of HEROES, Awards and Events, and general news regarding the Committee. We offer downloadable PDFs of previously published printed news items, newsletters and new press releases.
If you have updated news you would like to share with us, or if you are a member of the press and are interested in learning more about the work of the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States, please contact: Diane Blake (646) 678-3711 email: diane@raoulwallenberg.org
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The Swedish Schindler who disappeared
February 1, 2015
During World War Two, a young Swedish diplomat saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis. But in January 1945 Soviet troops arrested him - he was never seen in public again.
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Raoul Wallenberg and the art of the impossible
July 12, 2014
Seventy years ago this month, as World War II raged, American and Swedish officials came to the aid of the last surviving Jewish community in Europe. The decision to send active assistance to the besieged Jews of Hungary was made very late. US president Franklin Roosevelt had ordered the creation of the War Refugee Board only in January 1944...
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The Mystery of Raoul Wallenberg
March 14, 2014
Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the disappearance in a Soviet prison of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman who rescued thousands of Hungarian Jews in the darkest days of the Holocaust. Arrested by communists in 1945, Wallenberg never resurfaced, and his family and historians are still demanding that Russia reveal the precise documentary details of his demise...
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Wallenberg’s family demands access to key documents in his case
March 12, 2014
In the 1990s, the former MGB investigator Boris Solovov secretly told a Swedish-Russian commission that the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg had been held as “Prisoner No.7” in Lubyanka Prison in 1947. Yet the FSB Central Archive refuses to allow Wallenberg’s family access to documentation that could confirm Solovov’s claim...
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Sweden, Russia Should Find Truth on Wallenberg
May 07, 2013
In the early morning of May 9, 1945, after the radio announcement of the German capitulation, joyous celebrations erupted all over Moscow and throughout the Soviet Union, marking the end of the most horrific conflict the world had ever seen...
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Saved Hungarian Jews salute citizen Raoul Wallenberg
April 16, 2013
Frank Vajda was just nine when he and his mother were lined up in front of a machine gun with about 30 other Jewish Hungarians, waiting to be shot by members of the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party. Now 77 and a professor of neurology in Melbourne, he remembers Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg arriving to confront the execution squad and eventually persuading its commanders that he was entitled to take the Jews away...
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Swedes to get Raoul Wallenberg memorial day
January 4, 2013
Top Swedish politicians have introduced an official memorial day for the "great Swede" Raoul Wallenberg, who saved 100,000 people from the Holocaust in Budapest during World War II..
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'Re-open probe into Raoul Wallenberg’s fate'
July 6, 2012
Official claims from Russia about when Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg died appear ever more doubtful as new evidence emerges, argues historian Susanne Berger, who has called for the investigation in Wallenberg's fate to be re-opened. After conducting a decade-long investigation, the official joint Swedish-Russian Working Group studying Wallenberg's fate in Russia concluded its report in 2001 with these succinct words: "The burden of proof regarding the death of Raoul Wallenberg rests with the Russian government".
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Why Raoul Wallenberg’s Centennial Matters
June 27, 2012
The Swedish rescuer Raoul Wallenberg was born 100 years ago this summer, and his centennial is being commemorated with events in many cities across Europe and North America. On June 26, a symposium in his memory was held at Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research in Jerusalem.
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Russia Denies It's Hiding Details Of Holocaust Hero Raoul Wallenberg's Fate
May 29, 2012
Raoul Wallenberg is credited with saving thousands of Jews in Budapest during the Nazi occupation by giving them Swedish travel papers or moving them to safe houses. The Swedish diplomat was arrested by the Soviet Red Army more than six decades ago. His fate has been a mystery ever since. On Monday, the chief archivist of Russia's counterintelligence service said the agency will continue searching for clues about his fate.
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Russia Says the Wallenberg Case Is Still Open
May 28, 2012
The chief archivist of Russia's counterintelligence service said Monday it will continue searching for clues about the mystery of Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg, who vanished while in Soviet captivity. Lt.-Gen. Vasily Khristoforov said that his agency, the Federal Security Service, has no reason to withhold any information about the Swedish diplomat from the public eye. He rejected critics' allegations that his service, the main KGB successor, could be hiding documents related to Wallenberg's fate.
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Honoring Raoul Wallenberg
May 25, 2012
“Raoul Wallenberg could have chosen to live a life of comfort and safety . . . during World War II,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said recently in Stockholm, Sweden on the 100th anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg's birth. “Instead, he risked his life to save the lives of others. Raoul Wallenberg paid dearly for his brave choice, and his actions speak to the core of our common humanity.”
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Raoul Wallenberg statue defaced in Hungary
May 23, 2012
Agroup of American tourists visiting Budapest were shocked to find a statue commemorating Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg defaced, the news website Nepszabadsag Online reported. The tourists found the statue covered in blood with blood-oozing pig’s feet attached to it and rushed to notify authorities.
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New Stamp Honors Raoul Wallenberg
May 10, 2012
Raoul Wallenberg is being honored with a stamp on the 100th anniversary of his birth. The stamp will be available for purchase on May 10, 2012.
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Fighting for the Truth in the Wallenberg Case
May 4, 2012
The story of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman and diplomat who went to Hungary in 1944 to rescue the Jews of Budapest, bears all the hallmarks of a Greek tragedy. Young and idealistic, he fought one totalitarian regime — Nazism — only to fall victim to another — Stalinism — when he was arrested by Soviet forces in Hungary in January 1945. As such, his case seamlessly links the two defining events of the 20th century — the Holocaust and the Cold War.
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Investigation into Fate of Wallenberg Must Continue
April 25, 2012
With Russia’s failure to produce conclusive evidence about the fate of Raoul Wallenberg in Soviet captivity, the Swedish government must continue to press for direct access to essential archives and to locate witnesses who may have factual information about what happened to the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi persecution in 1944, only to disappear himself in the Soviet Union in 1945.
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US President Obama Honors Raoul Wallenberg (VIDEO)
April 19, 2012
US President Barack Obama commemorates a true human hero and soul, a guiding beacon in a gloomy, frightening world filled with cruelty. Raoul Wallenberg impersonates the unselfish humanity struggling against stupidity and malice. He was a TRUE HERO.
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Holocaust Hero, Raoul Wallenberg, Re-discovered in Australia
April 16, 2012
A Holocaust Hero, a Swedish Student, Raoul Wallenberg (1912 - ) is surprisingly 're-discovered' in Australia by this alum of his American university. His life, now 100 years since his birth, inspires individuals who can make a difference.
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Photo: Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Monument
March 27, 2012
Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Monument at Haga Kyrkoplan in Central Gothenburg. Erected by the 'City of Gothenburg Authority' in 2007, designed by local artist Charlotte Gyllenhammar. The monument is a photo based work in bronze and graphic concrete and is 2.5 meters tall. Photo by Peter Boman
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Unknown Swedish prisoner may provide clues to Wallenberg mystery
The Local - March 15, 2012
A so far unidentified Swedish prisoner in Soviet captivity in the 1950s may provide historians with more clues as to the fate of missing WWII diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, argues historian Susanne Berger. In 1957 a former German prisoner of war by the name of Ludwig Hunoldt provided intriguing information about a Swedish citizen he had encountered in the Soviet captivity...
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Not a “nobody”: choice of Raoul Wallenberg in 1944 not accidental
March 19, 2012
A major challenge for researchers in the Raoul Wallenberg case has always been how little original documentation about the young Swedish diplomat survives from his adult life before 1944. Few personal letters or other documents have been preserved...new documentation recently discovered in Hungary suggests that Wallenberg’s background story may be more complex than previously thought. For one, as early as 1943, his personal network of contacts ran deeper and broader than researchers have realized. This raises new questions not only about Raoul Wallenberg’s relationship with the Wallenberg business group, but also what exactly prompted his selection for the Budapest assignment.
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Raoul Wallenberg in Russia: Definitely not a Guest, but a Prisoner
Globe Herald - February 1, 2012
Sweden has announced it will hold a new inquiry into the death of diplomat and Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg after his capture by Soviet forces in 1945. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt asked officials to look into whether any new material had emerged that could shed new light on what happened. The Swedish diplomat was credited with saving tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis.
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A necessary example of tolerance
The Economist - February 1, 2012
The last time Raoul Wallenberg was seen alive by his friends and colleagues was on January 17th 1945. He left his safe house in Budapest to meet the commanders of the Red Army, which was besieging the city. Wallenberg and his driver, Vilmos Langfelder, were arrested and then they disappeared into the maw of the Gulag.
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Sweden to hold new inquiry into Wallenberg death
By BBC - January 18, 2012
Sweden has announced it will hold a new inquiry into the death of diplomat and Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg after his capture by Soviet forces in 1945. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt asked officials to look into whether any new material had emerged that could shed new light on what happened. The Swedish diplomat was credited with saving tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis.
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Wallenberg's Life-Giving Legacy
By Hillary Rodham Clinton and Carl Bildt - January 16, 2012
Sweden begins a year-long celebration of the life of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who chose not to be indifferent when faced with great evil...Raoul Wallenberg’s mission was an example of American-Swedish cooperation for the common good. His work in Budapest was partly financed by the United States.
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Raoul Wallenberg – Sweden's Not-So-Favourite Son
By Susanne Berger - January 2, 2012
The Swedish government has announced that it will designate 2012 as the official "Raoul Wallenberg Year" and the honour is more than deserved. Planned events will highlight the remarkable courage the Swedish businessman showed when in July 1944, at age thirty-one, he accepted a diplomatic appointment to go to Budapest, Hungary to confront the ruthless Nazi death machinery. By the time of Wallenberg's arrival it had swallowed up five-hundred thousand Jews of the Hungarian countryside and the less than two-hundred thousand left in the capital were about to meet the same fate.
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Russians print new info linked to Raoul Wallenberg
July 31, 2011
Russian archivists have published new material from a German officer imprisoned after World War II who shared a cell with Raoul Wallenberg, the missing Swedish diplomat credited with rescuing tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews.
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One Step Closer to the Truth
Raoul Wallenberg was Prisoner #7! March 31, 2010
Courtesy of Susanne Berger, a former independent consultant to the Swedish Russian Working Group, member of the Independent Investigation of Raoul Wallenberg's fate. Dr. Vadim Birstein is a former member of the Swedish-Russian Working Group.
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17 Questions Regarding Raoul Wallenberg
submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russian Federation Moscow by Guy von Dardel, Susanne Berger, Ari D. Kaplan, Mawin W. Makinen, & Susan E. Mesinai (former consultants and members of the Russian-Swedish Working Group).
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HEROES ‘Makes A Difference’ at The Western Pennsylvania School For The Deaf
By Tina Abraham and Vince Ruscavage, June, 2008
Since 2005, The Western Pennsylvania School For The Deaf (Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade) has celebrated HEROES while developing in its students not only good character but also academic and communication skills. Throughout the academic year 2007-2008, the creativity of the whole school community flourished as students learned in-depth about ‘respect’ and ‘cooperation’ through the heroic example of Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa. 
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Remembering Raoul
By Joshua Prager - Oct 28, 2009
The Swedish physicist Guy von Dardel was buried last month at age 90 without having realized the great quest of his life: freeing Raoul Wallenberg, his older half-brother who safeguarded some 20,000 Jews from the Nazis before disappearing into Soviet captivity in January 1945.
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The Wallenberg Curse
by Joshua Prager, February, 2009
"The Search for the Missing Holocaust Hero Began in 1945. The Unending Quest Tore His Family Apart".
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Gunnar Lagergren: In memorium
January 2009
"The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States expresses its condolences to Mrs. Nina Lagergren, sister of Raoul Wallenberg, on the passing of her beloved husband Gunnar"..
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Raoul Wallenberg’s Lost Inheritance
Courtesy of Susanne Berger, November 11, 2008
There has long been speculation about what Raoul Wallenberg inherited from the estates of his paternal grandparents, Gustaf and Annie Wallenberg. Gustaf died in 1937, Annie in 1952. New documents discovered in Stockholm Stadsarkiv and described here for the first time, show that had Raoul returned from his imprisonment in the Soviet Union, he would have been quite well off.
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Why not a word about Raoul Wallenberg?
By Susanne Berger, October 22, 2008
International journalist, Susanne Berger’s research addresses the wider political and economic aspects of Wallenberg's humanitarian mission to Budapest, as well as their associated effects on the investigation of his disappearance. For six years, Susanne served as a consultant to the Swedish-Russian Working Group on the Fate of Raoul Wallenberg.
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The Three Crowns on Raoul Wallenberg's protective Passport
By Ben Olander
Ben Olander, a gifted Swedish storyteller and songwriter, first heard about Raoul Wallenberg from his Danish grandparents who took an active part in smuggling Jews and resistance fighters from Denmark to Sweden during WWII. He has been a friend of the Committee for many years. While looking at the design of Raoul's schutzpas, Ben noticed something odd about the formation of the Swedish crowns. Here is his story: "The Mystery of the Swedish Crowns - Wallenberg's Secret Tribute".
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Raoul Wallenberg A STUDY OF HEROES, General News
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