
The Swedish Schindler who disappeared - smacktoward
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30934452
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svajda
Really interesting to see this here. Long time lurker. My dad is Frank Vajda

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femto
Your comment prompted me to go searching, and I found this:

[http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-
news/missin...](http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/missing-
holocaust-hero-honoured-with-australian-citizenship-20130506-2j3nv.html)

The claim is that Wallenberg was sighted within the Soviet detention system up
until the 1980s!

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svajda
There has always been speculation that Wallenberg was alive and kept locked up
somewhere. My dad has been trying to find out what's happened for years and
years. The honorary Australian citizenship was a really important event in my
fathers life.

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lehi
I expected this to be about Folke Bernadotte [0]. Also a Swedish diplomat, he
rescued about 31,000 prisoners from Nazi concentration camps.

Bernadotte didn't disappear, though. As the UN Mediator in Palestine, he
negotiated the ceasefire of the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and was
surprisingly prescient in that capacity: 'After the truce was in place,
Bernadotte began to address the issue of achieving a political settlement. The
main obstacles in his opinion were "the Arab world's continued rejection of
the existence of a Jewish state, whatever its borders; Israel's new
'philosophy', based on its increasing military strength, of ignoring the
partition boundaries and conquering what additional territory it could; and
the emerging Palestinian Arab refugee problem."' [1]

For his efforts, he was assassinated by Zionist terrorists, including the
later Prime Minister of Israel.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folke_Bernadotte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folke_Bernadotte)
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab–Israeli_War#UN_media...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab–Israeli_War#UN_mediator_Bernadotte)

~~~
sebcat
Handle reference:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehi_(group)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehi_\(group\))

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lisa_henderson
A man given power who then uses it for great good -- I wish the history books
were full of many more stories such as this, but sadly, the opposite is true.
This was a rare circumstance where a man of great intelligence and energy was
given a post where he could do some good, and with fantastic courage he used
his power to save as many as he could. His success brings honor to himself,
but it also brings dishonor to the thousands of other officials who held
similar posts and who did absolutely nothing to stop the murder.

~~~
littlemerman
There were many others who helped as well. For example:

[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara)

~~~
hga
And in a reversal, a Nazi was the leader of a sanctuary set up by foreigners
in Nanking that to a degree mitigated the horrors otherwise visited on that
city's inhabitants by the IJA:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Safety_Zone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Safety_Zone)

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hga
_" But it's very important to remember that Raoul Wallenberg was a
representative of a sovereign government recognised by the Hungarians and the
Germans. Therefore he had a status and standing enabling him to negotiate."_

It just occurred to me, probably because I'm reading a book on WWI history,
where the Swedish iron ore supply to Germany was just as important and was
harassed by the U.K. and Tzarist Russia, that that detail is probably one of
the things that helped Wallenberg's influence. Germany was in no position to
invade Sweden, and really needed that ore (and possibly other imports).

~~~
BoardsOfCanada
Actually, Hitler planned to invade Sweden on July 1st of 1943, but the attack
was called off only hours before, due to events in North Africa.
[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&pr...](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.krigsmyter.nu%2Fartikel-
tyskinvasionsplan-a.php&edit-text=)

~~~
hga
Oops, I forgot to include language making it clear that in mid-1944 and on
when Wallenberg was doing his thing it was beyond Nazi Germany's power to
invade Sweden. Well, without for example stripping the forces trying to keep
the US and the Commonwealth from breaking out of Normandy.

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reitanqild
Thanks for posting, I can't recall having heard about that Swede before
despite that is quite an achievement!

(Germans weren't too easy too argue with.)

~~~
ptaipale
I have read about Wallenberg's fate in magazines etc every few years.
Schindler I only recognize because of Spielberg's movie.

Somewhat interesting is that Hungarian Jews were, though occasionally
persecuted, relatively safe as long as Hungary was a reliable co-belligerent
with Germany, and Hungarians were in charge. When, after March 1944, Nazis
were actually running things with the help of the Arrow Cross party, things
changed for the worse.

It seems to have been the same in some other countries: Bulgaria, Finland and
Italy had no interest in solving a "Jewish question" or even recognizing there
was one. Bulgaria managed to resist deportations and pogroms of own citizens
all the way. In Italy, the deportations started only after Italy capitulated
in 1943 and Germany occupied the country. In Finland, Jews were few; not one
of the local population was killed in persecutions (but a few died in the army
when fighting the Soviets with their countrymen.)

