The Jewish community of Stockholm packed the synagogue of the Swedish capital Sunday night to pay homage to Raoul Wallenberg, the war-time savior of 100,000 Hungarian Jews.
An audience of more than 800 heard the Bishop of Stockholm and Bruno Kaplan, president of the Stockholm Jewish community, describe Wallenberg’s exploit while a diplomat in Budapest and the mystery which has surrounded his fate since his arrest by the Russians in 1945.
The meeting, which coincided with this week’s 35th anniversary of Wallenberg’s arrest, launched a fund for a scholarship in his name at the Weizmann institute in Rehovot, Israel.
Among the congregation was Mrs. Nina Lagergren, half-sister of Wallenberg, who believes that her brother is still alive and who is spearheading an international campaign for his release. Members of the diplomatic corps were also present, including–representatives of Israel, France and Argentina.
In a telephone call to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in London last night, Per Anger, a senior Swedish diplomat who worked closely with Wallenberg in Budapest, said he is “convinced” that Wallenberg, who would now be 67 years old, is still in Soviet captivity, despite Russian claims that he died in Moscow shortly after the war.
New light on what actually happened to Wallenberg immediately after his incarceration in Moscow’s Lubyanko Prison may be shed later this month when the Swedish government releases the first part of its huge dossier on the case.
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.
