Raoul Wallenberg and His Legacy

Raoul Wallenberg was a person able to put others before himself and went out of his way to help victims during WWII. Not many people who studied the Holocaust know Raoul Wallenberg but once learning about him it is hard to forget him and his accomplishments. He was a hero during WWII and was able to prevent many tragedies that could have occurred through his courage and potential which was able to influence many people after his time. Raoul Wallenberg is a man that is one of his kind who stood by his beliefs and pursued them to the fullest extent. No one thought of laying a finger on the Nazi’s or trying to go against them but he proved everyone wrong by doing just that.

Raoul Wallenberg had a very interesting childhood. He was born on August 4th, 1912 in Wapole, Lindingo. He was the son of both Raoul Oscar Wallenberg and Maria Sofia Wising. Sadly, before he was born his father had passed away due to cancer. After a short while his mother remarried and was pregnant with Raoul’s half brother and sister. His siblings names were Guy von Dardel and a half sister named Nina Lagergen. He grew very close to his siblings during his childhood but split apart from them once he grew older and wanted to explore and learn a lot more about the world. Raoul’s family was wealthy but after his father died their income became mid-level. But, through his Grandfather who Raoul was extremely close to he was able to go through any educational process he wanted. Raoul was extremely interested in becoming an architect even though his Grandfather wanted him to continue the tradition of the family by becoming a banker(Becker). Soon after, Raoul still decided to get a degree in Architecture and embarked on a journey to America. There, Raoul attended the University of Michigan and learned to speak English, German and French. His academic scores were amazing to the point that he received a medal representing someone with outstanding academic capabilities. He ended up earning a bachelor’s degree in Science and Architecture and headed back to Sweden at the time it was extremely hard to find jobs but his Grandfather helped him greatly with getting started.

After a lot of job searching Raoul’s Grandfather was extremely lucky and found Raoul a job. His first job was at Cape Town, South Africa where he practiced at a Swedish Firm. After learning a lot about his job and gaining a lot of experience his Grandfather found him a better job. He later traveled to Haifa, Palestine now known as Israel to start an advanced job(Graham). There, Raoul met Jews in Palestine that had escaped Hitler's rule. He was greatly influenced by their story because his Great Grandparents were Jewish which made him part Jewish as well. He felt obligated to take action but didn't believe it was possible for him to do anything at the time. Raoul Wallenberg returned to Sweden and found a business partner who was a Jew who aided in educating Raoul on the current situation in Germany that was spreading through Europe. He traveled with his business partner through Europe and was able to learn how the German Government worked. He traveled to many places such as Hungary and Budapest where his understanding of the situation taking place grew. He then ended up staying in Hungary where his partner’s family lived which is e e e e e e e e when his journey began.

In Hungary Raoul had become extremely interested in the situation in Germany. Raoul and his partner stumbled upon the Refugee Board (WRB) created by USA to save Jews from Nazi prosecution(Graham). Raoul's partner was elected to lead a rescue operation in Budapest because of his familiarity with the area. Raoul was appointed as dthe first secretary at the Swedish legislation in Budapest. Raoul was able to convince the Swedish legislature to approve of his methods of saving the Jews. After a short amount of time he was promoted to head of the operations that would be taken place in Hungary. After awhile Germany had taken over Hungary and the organization was dismantled. Raoul thought he couldn’t do anything else and his work was done. But, he decided not to e e e e e e e e give up and started building Swedish Houses which were made for Jewish refugees holding approximately 15,000 Jews in total. This also inspired people in other countries to make Swedish Houses as well to help Jewish refugees(Graham). Raoul had gained a lot of courage and ended up fighting and bribing the Nazi’s for the safe passing of Jews. Raoul was doing so well that the Hungarian ruler allowed Raoul to issue passes to Swedish Jews. But after the Nazi control in Hungary got stronger his passes were taken away. He was so angry and still had thousands of passes left so he jumped on a train filled with Jews and put passes into their hands and demanded they get off the train with him. German soldiers were told to shoot on site but the soldiers were so impressed that even after being told to open fire they deliberately aimed to high. Raoul was also told about a massacre of 90,000 Jews in a ghetto that was going to occur. But, through a letter to the leader which stated that he would take full responsibility for his actions at the ghetto and would be tried as a criminal made him fall back with his troops. Raoul was able to save the Jews in the camp which was easily his biggest accomplishment. Raoul affected WWII in one of the most positive outlooks. He is responsible for saving approximately 100,000 Jews through his time in Hungary. Raoul influenced many people in his time and was able to help many Jews through his Swedish Houses and extremely courageous acts which even got German soldiers startled. People followed his lead and setup many things in order to help Jews to escape Hitler's reign as well. Without Raoul Wallenberg thousands of Jews would have been wiped out.

At the end of Raoul's accomplishments he was taken by the Russian's. No one knew what had happened to him but eventually the Russian's had announced that he was killed on the radio. Raoul Wallenberg was said to have died from a heart attack on July 17, 1947. Raoul was not only a person who saved many people but someone who used his skills and talents to out smart one of the most influential powers in the world’s history. He was able to hold himself up and fight to the finish even if it meant his death.

~ Saquib Zahid