B’nai Brith Canada has launched a petition calling on the Swedish government to seek justice for the late Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved up to 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.
As Wallenberg’s fate has largely remained a mystery since his detention by Soviet authorities in 1945, B’nai Brith is urging Sweden to use its upcoming IHRA presidency to press Russia to obtain documents that might shed light on all the lingering questions about Wallenberg’s fate.
Sweden has so far not requested access to the relevant archival files in Russia’s possession, B’nai Brith CEO Michael Mostyn explained, calling Wallenberg a “man who must never be forgotten.”
In a recent op-ed in the Toronto Sun, Mostyn wrote: “Sweden must ask Russia to release all its records about Wallenberg’s imprisonment and fate in Soviet custody. The Canadian government needs to pressure Sweden into making the determination of Wallenberg’s fate its top IHRA priority. Since 2001, Sweden has only once requested specific relevant archival documents from the Russian Federation.”
“Inconsistent information from the Soviet Union and Russian sources about Wallenberg’s imprisonment remain deeply concerning to B’nai Brith and others,” Mostyn added.
Describing Wallenberg as “renowned for his heroics,” and noting that he was named an honorary citizen of Canada after his disappearance for using his Swedish diplomatic protection and over 30 safehouses to protect Hunagrian Jews, B’nai Brith presented a virtual panel on Monday with experts speaking about the mystery surrounding Wallenberg’s disappearance at the end of the war.
“Historic truth matters because the issues that are at the heart of the Wallenberg case are as relevant today as they were 77 years ago, when Wallenberg disappeared,” Susanne Berger, consultant to the Swedish-Russian Working Group on the Fate of Raoul Wallenberg, said during the event. “The search for historic truth isn’t just a laborious exercise but it is really remembrance – the key step in enabling us to learn from history. We are doing this for all of us.”
“The Wallenberg case presents a great anomaly in the sense that he is very much honoured but very little helped,” B’nai Brith Senior Legal Counsel David Matas said. “We should do something commensurate with what he has done for others to rescue his fate.”
The B’nai Brith petition will be open for signatures until January 27, after which it will be presented to Canada’s Swedish ambassador.
Mostyn and Marvin Rotrand, the national director of B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights, have already held preliminary talks with the ambassador. Mostyn said the discussions were positive.
“We can no longer merely celebrate the legacy of Wallenberg without also fighting for justice to his memory,” Mostyn said. “Please sign the petition to help make 2022 the year our world finally learns the true fate of this inspirational human being.”