Eduardo Eurnekian, Chairman of the Wallenberg Foundation, has announced that the NGO will renew its request to Yad Vashem to declare Angelo Roncalli (Pope John XXIII) as Rigtheous among the Nations for his life-saving actions during WWII, which helped many Jews from the Nazi extermination.
Back in February 2011, the Wallenberg Foundation submitted to Yad Vashem a thick dossier about Roncalli with evidences which were compiled by a team of historians and researchers, and a strong petition to have him recognized as Righteous among the nations.
To date, Yad Vashem has not offered an official response to the IRWF’s request.
Eduardo Eurnekian pointed-out that “the IRWF pursued its intensive research and in the last few months, our researchers have come across additional materials which buttress our conviction that Angelo Roncalli merits being officially recognized as Righteous among the Nations….in the next few weeks, we shall be sharing our findings with Yad Vashem, requesting this institution to bring the case to its Commission of Designation of Righteous, in accordance with the historical relevance of this case”.
The Wallenberg Foundation has engaged in multiple initiatives aimed at paying tribute to the memory and legacy of Angelo Roncall, who, in the decade of the 40’s, as Apostolic Delegate of the Vatican in Istanbul, intervened with various factors in order to save the maximum number of innocent lives.
Among many other initiatives, the most recent one took place last May 13, 2014, when a delegation of the NGO participated in a special Knesset session which was devoted to Roncalli’s humanitarian feets during the Shoah.
Eduardo Eurnekian added: “We shall continue striving to secure a well-deserved recognition to Angelo Roncalli, one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century.
