In 2001, the Canadian Government formally recognized January 17 as “Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day.” Twenty-one years later, the importance of honouring Wallenberg’s legacy remains as pressing as ever.
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of approximately 100,000 Jews during World War II. In the spring of 1944, the Nazis intensified their efforts to eradicate the Jewish people. From May to July of that year, they deported approximately 440,000 Hungarian Jews to the Nazi regime’s largest concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. When Wallenberg arrived in Budapest as part of a Swedish diplomatic mission in July 1944, approximately 200,000 Jews living in the region remained.
For Wallenberg, complicity in the face of such profound injustice was inexcusable. Upon arriving in Budapest, he quickly got to work inventing Swedish protective passports known as “Schutzpasses” and distributing them to Jews awaiting deportation to Nazi extermination camps. Wallenberg’s status as a Swedish diplomat helped to affirm the legitimacy of these passports to German officials.
In addition to creating and distributing these protective passports, Wallenberg introduced several other humanitarian initiatives designed to save Jewish lives. He established safe houses, soup kitchens, and hospitals for the Jewish people. Wallenberg disguised these establishments as Swedish embassy buildings and hired Jews as embassy employees. In doing so, Wallenberg conferred diplomatic immunity to these Jewish employees. Collectively, these initiatives saved approximately 100,000 Jewish lives.
To me, Raoul Wallenberg represents the best of humanity. His extraordinary moral courage and fierce commitment to justice are a compelling reminder of the impact a single person can have on the world. When asked by a fellow diplomat about his efforts in Budapest, Wallenberg responded: “to me there’s no other choice.” This statement is a powerful testament to Wallenberg’s integrity; this was a man who dared to challenge evil simply because he knew that doing so was right.
Today, our socio-political climate remains plagued by racism, xenophobia, and indifference, not unlike that which catalyzed Wallenberg’s heroic efforts in Budapest seventy-eight years ago. Like Wallenberg, we should each regard apathy and complicity in the face of these injustices as inexcusable. We, too, must staunchly advocate for truth and justice. As Raoul Wallenberg’s legacy reminds us, there is no other choice.