[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 8, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E729-E730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING THE CENTENNIAL OF THE BIRTH OF RAOUL WALLENBERG

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 8, 2012

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
heroic actions of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish citizen and diplomat, 
who, together with other courageous individuals, helped 100,000 
Hungarian Jews escape Nazi authorities during World War II. As we 
continue to honor the memories of all those who suffered and perished 
during the Holocaust, we cannot forget the extraordinary men and women 
who risked their very own lives to take a stand against injustice and 
save their fellow man. This year marks the centennial of Wallenberg's 
birth, and although his ultimate fate remains unknown, we must ensure 
that this and future generations know of his great deeds.
  Wallenberg was born on August 4, 1912 in Lidingo, Sweden, to a 
prominent Lutheran family. He studied architecture at the University of 
Michigan in Ann Arbor, and graduated with honors in 1935. The following 
year, Wallenberg went to work at a bank in Haifa, Palestine, and was 
deeply moved by the stories of Jews who had escaped Nazi persecution in 
Germany. After returning to Sweden, he became associated with Koloman 
Lauer, a Hungarian Jew who owned an import and export firm. Wallenberg 
traveled freely through Germany, Nazi-occupied France, and Hungary, 
where he witnessed the plight of European Jews firsthand.
  On March 19, 1944, Hitler invaded Hungary and began a massive 
deportation of Hungary's estimated 700,000 Jews to the concentration 
camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Earlier that year, President Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board in order to help Jews and 
other groups persecuted by the Nazi and Axis powers. Working together 
with the Swedish government and prominent Swedish Jews, including 
Lauer, the War Refugee Board sought to send a special envoy to Budapest 
to rescue as many Hungarian Jews as possible. Wallenberg, then only 31 
years old, was appointed first secretary at the Swedish Legation in 
Budapest with full diplomatic privileges and the financial support of 
the War Refugee Board.
  Wallenberg used all means necessary to protect Jews from the German 
and Hungarian authorities, employing several hundred Jews under the 
protection of the Swedish Legation, redesigning the so-called 
``Schutzpass,'' and securing approximately 15,000 such protective 
passes. On October 15, 1944, the fascist Arrow Cross Party seized power 
in Hungary and installed a pro-Nazi regime that terrorized, deported, 
and murdered tens of thousands of people. Still, Wallenberg remained in 
Budapest to continue his efforts and established ``Swedish Houses,'' 
which served as places of refuge for over 25,000 Jews.
  On November 20, 1944, Adolph Eichmann began the ``death marches,'' 
the deportation of thousands of starving and tortured Jews by foot 
along the 125-mile-long road between Budapest and the Austrian border. 
Wallenberg directly confronted German soldiers along the way in order 
to provide protective passes, food, and medicine to Jews. In January 
1945, he saved the remaining Jews living in Budapest's largest ghetto 
from massacre with the help of Pal Szalay, an Arrow Cross senior 
official.
  When the Russian army arrived in Budapest on January 17, 1945, 
Wallenberg disappeared after being taken into Soviet custody. He was 
reportedly imprisoned in Lubyanka prison in Moscow, and died on July 
19, 1947 from a heart attack. However, reports from former Soviet 
prisoners as recent as 1981 suggest that

[[Page E730]]

Wallenberg may have survived after 1947, and his fate remains shrouded 
in mystery to this day. He has since become the subject of numerous 
humanitarian honors, including that of Yad Vashem's ``Righteous among 
the Nations;'' has been named an honorary citizen of the United States, 
Canada, and Israel; and has been memorialized through countless 
monuments, statues, works of art, social institutions, and street names 
around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, Raoul Wallenberg and his colleagues in the Swedish 
Legation saved at least 100,000 Jews in Hungary from extermination, 
including the late Congressman Tom Lantos and his wife Annette. As we 
celebrate the centennial of Wallenberg's birth, let his story inspire 
and embolden our ongoing efforts to bring an end to discrimination and 
hate-inspired violence in our communities through greater leadership 
and cooperation among all peoples.

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