Since 2001, January 15 is Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada. Mr. Wallenberg was a hero who courageously used his position to save tens of thousands of Jews in Hungary during the Nazi Holocaust. Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat working in Budapest during the Second World War. He and his colleagues, using Swedish passports, letters of protection and other diplomatic tools were able to help thousands of Jews to escape from Hungary and tens of thousands to survive through to the end of the war.
(Source: ushmm.org)
Tragically, Raoul Wallenberg disappeared after the Soviet conquest of Hungary from the Germans in 1945. Some reports suggest he died in a Soviet prison in 1947, but his fate is officially uncertain.
(Source: https://www.raoulwallenbergcentre.org)
Raoul Wallenberg is considered one of the “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem in Israel, and was made an Honorary Citizen of Canada in 1985.
Find out more:
- International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
- Statement from the Prime Minister of Canada
- Yad Veshem
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
In January we both recognize Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada, as well as International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. Come down to the School Library this month, in person, and continue to visit us online, for more information on the horrific and tragic history of the Holocaust.
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 