Swedish diplomat and World War II hero, Raoul Wallenberg, was declared dead on Oct. 31, 2016, more than seven decades after the end of the war. The cause and time of death remain a mystery to everyone.
Wallenberg is one of World War II’s greatest heroes. He was credited with helping approximately 20,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. He helped thousands of Jews escape death by providing them with Swedish passports and passages to underground safe houses. Wallenberg was awarded “Righteous Among Nations,” an honor given to non-Jews who helped their brothers and sisters survive during the Holocaust. Modern-day historians believe that Wallenberg died under the Soviets.
He vanished after being arrested in Budapest in 1945. Sweden remained neutral and passive after Wallenberg’s disappearance, and it was later found out that he had a connection with non-Communist resistance movement of Hungary. While the Soviets initially denied he was with them, they refuted their claims, saying Wallenberg had died of heart attack in prison two years after he was arrested on July 17, 1947.
As if the earlier reports were not confusing enough, some suggested he was alive six days after his death in prison. There were also accounts from people who saw him even decades after his supposed death.
The Swedish Tax Authority, the country’s arm for registering births and deaths, has set Wallenberg’s date of death to July 31, 1952. This is following a rule that says a missing person presumed to have died should be pronounced dead after disappearing for five years.
Hi, I’m John Eilermann. Learn more about the greatest heroes of World War II by subscribing to my blog.
Wallenberg is one of World War II’s greatest heroes. He was credited with helping approximately 20,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. He helped thousands of Jews escape death by providing them with Swedish passports and passages to underground safe houses. Wallenberg was awarded “Righteous Among Nations,” an honor given to non-Jews who helped their brothers and sisters survive during the Holocaust. Modern-day historians believe that Wallenberg died under the Soviets.
Image source: Wallenberg.umich.edu
He vanished after being arrested in Budapest in 1945. Sweden remained neutral and passive after Wallenberg’s disappearance, and it was later found out that he had a connection with non-Communist resistance movement of Hungary. While the Soviets initially denied he was with them, they refuted their claims, saying Wallenberg had died of heart attack in prison two years after he was arrested on July 17, 1947.
Image source: wallenberg.umich.edu
As if the earlier reports were not confusing enough, some suggested he was alive six days after his death in prison. There were also accounts from people who saw him even decades after his supposed death.
The Swedish Tax Authority, the country’s arm for registering births and deaths, has set Wallenberg’s date of death to July 31, 1952. This is following a rule that says a missing person presumed to have died should be pronounced dead after disappearing for five years.
Hi, I’m John Eilermann. Learn more about the greatest heroes of World War II by subscribing to my blog.
