Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

U.S. Department of State, September 15, 2004

ARGENTINA

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Section II. Status of Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, in conjunction with the Goethe Institute, the City of Buenos Aires, and specialized volunteers, made presentations at secondary schools to promote solidarity and civic courage as exemplified by Wallenberg.

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[end of document]

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• US Department of State

Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
U.S. Department of State, September 5, 2000
ARGENTINA

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Section II. Societal Attitudes

Relations among the various religious communities are amicable. Interfaith understanding is promoted actively by nongovernmental organizations such as Argentina House in Jerusalem. Ecumenical attendance is common at important religious events, such as the Jewish community’s annual Holocaust commemoration.In 1997 a memorial mural to the victims of the Holocaust, the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, and the 1994 bombing of the city’s Jewish Community Center (AMIA) was unveiled in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lujan in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires. At an ecumenical service in April 2000 commemorating the 1915 massacre of Armenians, religious figures from a number of different faiths, including the Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Armenian Orthodox, Muslim, Maronite, and other religions took part in conducting prayers in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires.

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Section III. U.S. Government Policy

In March 2000, the Embassy’s Charge d’Affaires hosted a ceremony sponsored by Argentina House in Jerusalem and the International Raoul Wallenberg Committee, at which a sculpture honoring the memory of Raoul Wallenberg was presented to the Embassy.

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[end of document]

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• US Department of State

Released by the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor -Washington, DC, September 9, 1999

Section II. Societal Attitudes

Relations among the various religious communities are amicable. Interfaith understanding is promoted actively by nongovernmental organizations such as Argentina House in the Holy Land of Israel Ecumenical attendance is common at important religious events, such as the Jewish community’s annual Holocaust commemoration. In 1997 a memorial mural to the victims of the Holocaust, the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, and the 1994 bombing of the city’s Jewish community center (AMIA) was unveiled in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lujan in the National Cathedral in Buenos Aires.///…

Section III. U.S. Government Policy

U.S. Embassy officers meet periodically with a variety of church leaders, invite them to embassy social functions, and attend events organized by churches and nongovernmental organizations that deal with issues of religious freedom.

In April 1998, an embassy officer attended the ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the unveiling of the National Cathedral’s memorial mural to the victims of the Holocaust and the Israeli Embassy and Jewish community center bombings. The ceremony was organized by Argentina House in the Holy Land of Israel. The U.S. Embassy also was represented at the presentation in December 1998 of a postal stamp honoring the mural. In September 1998, the U.S. Embassy contributed an article on religious freedom to Argentina House’s Internet site. [End of Document]

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• US Department of State

As in 1999, the Department of State stresses the initiatives of not only the IRWF but also those of Casa Argentina en Jerusalem, an interfaith non-governmental organization associated to the foundation which carries the name of the Swedish diplomat disappeared in January of 1945 after being kidnapped by the Soviet army. Between July and December of 1944 Wallenberg issued safe-conducts which saved the lives of thousands of persecuted, of whom mostly were Jews, and whose fate was the gas chambers at the concentration camp of Auschwitz.

The 2000 report highlights the Commemorative Mural erected in 1997 within the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires. This monument is the only memorial in the world dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust placed within a Christian temple. It was inaugurated by the Cardinal Antonio Quarracino and unveiled by the Nobel Peace Prize, Lech Walesa, Oscar Vicente and Baruj Tenembaum.

”In March of the year 2000 the Chargé d´ affairs of the US Embassy in Buenos Aires was the host of a ceremony sponsored by Casa Argentina en Jerusalem and the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation during which a sculpture honoring Raoul Wallenberg was donated to the Embassy.”, says the report among other things.

Among the saviors who constitute an example of solidarity for these and future generations we can find Monsignor Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who, during his mission as papal delegate in Istanbul in 1944, issued baptismal certificates in blank to save thousands of children in the Europe destroyed by Adolf Hitler´s forces.

Baruj Tenembaum, founder of the IRWF together with the California Representative, Tom Lantos and the Argentine businessman Natalio Wengrower, pointed out in his recent meeting in Berlin with the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Johannes Rau: ‘There are things in life that are more important than life itself. In accordance to what the voice of our forefathers tells us to do, we must look for Truth and Justice´, said Tenembaum. Later, he also said: ‘There are lights and shadows in the world. And even though it is important not to forget the shadows we have decided to dedicate to the exceptions that constitute the lights. We have dedicated to promote Raoul Wallenberg´s person, a protestant who saved thousands of Jews condemned to death and many others like him who risked everything to help people.

Among the saviors who constitute an example of solidarity for these and future generations we can find Monsignor Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who, during his mission as papal delegate in Istanbul in 1944, issued baptismal certificates in blank to save thousands of children in the Europe destroyed by Adolf Hitler´s forces.