Honoring Wallenberg on Holocaust Remembrance Day

In time for Holocaust Remembrance Day, Congress moved forward this week on an effort to mark the centennial of Raoul Wallenberg’s birth by honoring the Swedish diplomat with a Congressional Gold Medal.

Wallenberg’s actions saved the lives of nearly 100,000 Hungarian Jews in a six-month period. One of those saved by Wallenberg was the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.).

The Swede disappeared in 1945 after his arrest by the Soviet Union; the Russians later claimed he died of a heart attack in prison in 1947. President Reagan made Wallenberg an honorary U.S. citizen in 1981, an honor previously extended only to Winston Churchill.

The House unanimously approved the Wallenberg act on Tuesday and sent it to the Senate. It’s not on the floor schedule today.

“Indeed, hundreds of thousands of American Jews can directly or indirectly attribute their own lives to Raoul Wallenberg’s actions during World War II,” the resolution states. “…His actions and character make him an excellent contender for a Congressional Gold Medal in time for the centennial of his birth, to celebrate his achievements and humanitarian accomplishments.”

Wallenberg is a personal hero of mine, and is so to many others on the Hill as well.

“The stories of individuals such as Raoul Wallenberg continue to both inspire and astound. The Talmud teaches that to save one life is to save the world, and so the stories of individuals who took action to rescue their fellow citizens are also stories of ordinary people saving entire worlds,” Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), ranking Democrat on the Helsinki Commission, said. “For example, Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker, was tortured and faced execution after she aided in the smuggling of over 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto. Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, is credited with saving over 1,100 Jews by employing them in his factories. In another extraordinary story of rescue, an entire community of Greek Jews was saved through the efforts of two men, Mayor Loukas Karrer and Greek Orthodox Bishop Chrysostomos. Over 23,000 ‘Righteous Gentiles’ testify to the fact that the spark of humanity can exist even amidst great brutality in the darkest of times.”

“This week, and indeed all throughout the year, we must remember those whose lives were lost during the Holocaust,” Hastings added. “Let us continue to recognize the importance of freedom and human rights, and the sanctity of human dignity. As we remember the unthinkable consequences of what can occur when hate and intolerance are allowed to run rampant, let us also be motivated by the stories of individuals who risked all to confront injustice and genocide.”

“Every passing day presents new challenges for how best to remember and honor the victims of the Holocaust, and how to educate our children about the horrors of that dark era,” said House Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). “As we grow further from these chilling events, we see more and more attempts to revise history and downplay the travesty that took place. It is up to us to reaffirm and honor the promise never to forget these atrocities, and never to allow them to be repeated.  We will continue to counter hatred, prejudice, and anti-Semitism with education, tolerance, and acceptance.”

“We must also work to right the enduring wrongs of the Holocaust,” she added. “Insurance and rail companies have spent seven decades avoiding accountability for their Holocaust-era actions. Individuals who were children during the Holocaust are now in their eighties, and time is running out to ensure that they are granted justice.”