A report surfaced here Tuesday that Righteous Gentile Raoul Wallenberg is alive and “reasonably well” in the Soviet Union and would be released from prison shortly.
Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat on a mission to Hungary during World War II, is credited with saving the lives of thousands of Jews in Nazi occupied in Budapest by providing them with Swedish papers and shelter at the Swedish Embassy. He was arrested by Soviet authorities when the Red Army entered the city in 1945 and has not been heard from since.
The Soviets claim he died of natural causes in prison in 1947. Israel Radio on Tuesday quoted Yefim Moshinsky, who immigrated from the Soviet Union several years ago, as saying he had a letter from a “reliable source” in the USSR reporting that Wallenberg is alive.
Moshinsky, who claims he was the KGB officer who detained Wallenberg 42 years ago, said the man who delivered the letter was a family acquaintance and had received it from a “credible source.” The letter said Wallenberg would be released shortly.
Moshinsky’s story was not confirmed by any other sources.
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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.
