Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of 100,000 Jews in Budapest during the closing months of World War II, has been named an honorary citizen of Canada in joint bi-partisan resolutions adopted by the House of Commons and the Senate, the two houses of the Canadian Parliament.
Wallenberg, who disappeared after his arrest by Soviet agents when the Red Army entered Budapest more than 40 years ago, is the first person ever to be made an honorary citizen of Canada.
Alan Shefman, director of the League of Human Rights of B’nai B’rith Canada, one of the groups supporting the resolution, said the Canadian government’s action will enable it to raise the issue of Wallenberg’s whereabouts with the Soviet government and enable it to determine what happened to him. “We haven’t given up hope he’s alive,” Shefman said.
The Soviets claim that Wallenberg, arrested on January 17, 1945, died in prison in 1947. But there have been persistent reports from many sources indicating he may have survived longer and could still be alive. In 1981, the U.S. conferred honorary citizenship on Wallenberg, the only person apart from Winston Churchill ever to receive it.
ACTIONS IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE
The House of Commons acted a week ago. Two members, Roland de Corneille (Liberal) and Guy Ricard (Conservative) withdrew private members bills in favor of a joint resolution to grant Wallenberg honorary citizenship. It was seconded by House Leader Ian Deans of the New Democratic Party, and passed on December 10.
It was presented in the Senate a day later by Nathan Nurgitz (Conservative) and Lorna Marsden (Liberal) where it was adopted to coincide with International Human Rights Day.
De Corneille remarked, “It will enshrine Wallenberg’s name in Canadian history, so we become part of his history and he part of ours. It will signal to the Soviet Union that we regard him as a hero and humanitarian and should be allowed to leave,” assuming he is alive. De Corneille, like Shefman, has been working since 1980 on a bill similar to the one just adopted.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
