October 22, 2004

Inauguration of Raoul Wallenberg Kindergarten classroom in Argentine School

On Friday, 22 October a kindergarten classroom of the Ministro Zarini School of the city of La Plata, Capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, was named after Raoul Wallenberg.

The ceremony was organized by the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) and the Argentine General Economic Confederation (CGE), presided by Mr. Ricardo Faerman.

The IRWF was represented by its founder, Baruch Tenembaum, its Vice-President, Natalio Wengrower, the Board Members, Aldo Nasjleti, Jack Fuchs, Mariette Diamant, Malkiel Tenembaum, Szosia Klawir and the coordinators of the Wallenberg at School educational program (LINK), Gabriela Pauer and Rodrigo Rendo.

Silvina Rodríguez Barale, Principal of the School, Carlos Giardino of the CGE and Baruch Tenembaum unveiled an allusive plaque.

Natalio Wengrower pronounced the opening speech and praised the work carried out by Ministro Zarini School and by the Foundation in the field of education.

In turn, Laszlo Ladanyi, who was saved by Wallenberg in 1944, undertook a portrayal of the Swedish Diplomat who disappeared in 1944. However, emotion prevented him from continuing his speech.

This is the second kindergarten named after a Saviour of the Holocaust in Argentina. The first was also a kindergarten in the Raoul Wallenberg Center at ‘Barrio La Juanita’, a neighborhood in Gregorio de Laferrere, Province of Buenos Aires. This enterprise was undertaken by the Movement of Unemployed Workers of La Matanza. (LINK)

The IRWF promotes, with the support of Mrs. Nina Lagergren, sister of Raoul Wallenberg, the creation of schools all over the world that bear the name of ”The Hero Without a Grave”. Up to the present this has been done in Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina.
Translation: María Lía Macchi