[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 50 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E749-E750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    U.S. POSTAL SERVICE ISSUES STAMP TODAY HONORING RAOUL WALLENBERG

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 1997

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, today at a extremely moving ceremony at the 
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a stamp honoring Swedish humanitarian 
and Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg was issued. This is a most 
appropriate step, and I congratulate the Postal Service for this 
action. Raoul Wallenberg was

[[Page E750]]

responsible for saving as many as 100,000 lives in Budapest, Hungary, 
in the closing days of World War II.
  It is most appropriate that we honor Raoul Wallenberg with a U.S. 
stamp. In this age devoid of heroes, Wallenberg is the archetype of a 
hero--one who risked his life day in and day out, to save the lives of 
tens of thousands of people he did not know, whose religion he did not 
share.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to salute the men and women of the U.S. Postal 
Service, and Postmaster Gen. Marvin Runyon, for their help and support 
in recognizing and honoring the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg. The 
cooperation and assistance for today's ceremony from the U.S. Holocaust 
Memorial Museum and its staff was invaluable in today's most impressive 
ceremony.
  I want to offer special thanks to a number of individuals who 
participated in today's ceremony: my colleague, Senator Carl Levin; 
Miles Lehrman, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council; S. 
David Fineman, Postal Service Governor; and my granddaughter Chelsea 
Lantos-Swett. I also want to pay tribute to the efforts of Ilene Munetz 
Pachman, who energetically pursued her dream of a stamp honoring Raoul 
Wallenberg, and my wife Annette, who has devoted so much of her life to 
making known the story of Wallenberg and worked tirelessly for the 
release of Wallenberg from Soviet prison. We were honored at the 
Holocaust Museum today with the presence of a number of our colleagues 
from the Congress, as well as a number of representatives of the 
diplomatic corps.
  Born on August 4, 1912, an heir of a prominent Swedish banking 
family, Raoul Wallenberg studied architecture at the University of 
Michigan in the 1930's. In 1944, at the urging of the United States 
Government's War Refugee Board, he was appointed a Swedish special 
diplomatic envoy to Hungary. Without regard for his own safety, 
Wallenberg went to Hungary and worked to save tens of thousands of Jews 
from Nazi death camps, primarily by issuing Swedish protective 
passports and establishing safe houses under Swedish diplomatic 
protection where Jews were able to find some protection from Nazi 
thugs. Wallenberg also is properly credited with saving as many as 
70,000 lives when he stopped the bombing of the Jewish ghetto in 
Budapest by boldly threatening a Nazi general.
  What makes Raoul Wallenberg's incredible heroism so tragic is the 
fate he suffered following his extraordinary exploits in Budapest. He 
was arrested by Soviet military officials on January 17, 1945, and 
disappeared into the shadowy, half-world of the Gulag. It is the 
ultimate irony that this man, who did so much for so many, suffered 
such a fate. That tragedy is further compounded by the uncertainty 
surrounding the ultimate fate of Raoul Wallenberg. In 1957, the Soviet 
Government issued an official statement that Wallenberg had died in 
1947 from a heart attack. The Russian Government reaffirmed again in 
1991 that he had died in 1947, but they provided no additional details 
or other confirming evidence.
  Mr. Speaker, the stamp that is being issued today features a profile 
portrait of Wallenberg on the telephone. In the background, a group of 
Holocaust survivors looks over his shoulder. A Schutzpass, the 
protective passport document which he issued in an effort to save the 
lives of Jews destined for extermination camps, is shown in the upper 
left corner. Burt Silverman, the designer of the stamp, is an 
established artist whose work has appeared on the cover of the New 
Yorker magazine.
  In recognition of his heroism, the U.S. Congress has recognized and 
honored Raoul Wallenberg on a number of occasions in the past, 
acknowledging the debt of the United States and all humanity to this 
great man. In 1981 the Congress enacted and President Reagan signed 
legislation I introduced making Wallenberg an honorary U.S. citizen. 
Wallenberg was the second individual after Sir Winston Churchill to be 
recognized by being made an honorary U.S. citizen.
  In 1986 in cooperation with our former colleague Bill Lowery of 
California, we renamed the section of 15th Street, S.W., where the U.S. 
Holocaust Memorial Museum is now located, as ``Raoul Wallenberg 
Place.'' In 1994, the Congress approved legislation to place a bust of 
Raoul Wallenberg on permanent display in the U.S. Capitol.
  Whatever Wallenberg's fate, his heroic achievements remain a shining 
beacon in the darkest moment of human history. This hero of the 
Holocaust, whose heroism saved tens of thousands of lives, has achieved 
international recognition, respect, and admiration. People everywhere 
remember his courageous deeds in Budapest and the incalculable 
injustice of his incarceration in the Soviet Union. This recognition 
today--issuing a United States postage stamp in his honor--is only the 
latest appropriate tribute to this outstanding human being.
  My wife Annette and I owe our lives to Raoul Wallenberg, an authentic 
hero of the Holocaust. In one of the tragic ironies of history, this 
man who saved tens of thousands disappeared into the Soviet Gulag. His 
deeds must never be forgotten. The commemorative Wallenberg stamp will 
help us remember this beacon of hope that shined in history's darkest 
moment.

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