August 4th marked a new birthday anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg (1912 – ?). The Swedish diplomat, who saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazi extermination, went missing after being abducted by the Soviets
A packed attendance witnessed the warm ceremony that took place in Buenos Aires next to the Wallenberg statue, a fine piece of art by British sculptor Philip Jackson. Auschwitz survivor Jack Fuchs and Alexander Peyre-Dutrey, Secretary of the Swedish Embassy, delivered brief and heartfelt words. After the speeches garlands of flowers were deposited by several Holocaust survivors and their relatives. One attendant pointed out a singular coincidence: August 4th. is also the date of Barack Obama’s birthday. A fact not always remembered is that Wallenberg is one of the only six people to whom the Congress of the United States granted the US Honorary Citizenship.
Like Wallenberg, 106 Croatian people risked their lives in order to rescue the persecuted. A commemorative exhibit, opened last week in Buenos Aires, featuring the cases of 39 women and men that showed solidarity and civic courage during the rule od the pro Nazi Ustasha regime.