March 6, 2009

A hero without a grave

Source:

In response to ”Raoul Wallenberg parents committed suicide out of despair following his disappearance”, by Gila Dekel (Ha’aretz, March 3rd., 2009), we would like to underscore and emphasize the fact that major dramatic events took place, linking this affair no more and no less than Joseph Stalin himself. After more than 60 years, one can point the finger to this dramatic fact.

If indeed Raoul Wallenberg had been killed and Staling himself was allegedly involved in the assassination, according to the document in our possession, from a high-ranking diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Washington, then there is no doubt that the Russians know what happened to his remains.

The obvious conclusion is that we ought to continue our pressure on the Russians and ask them why they do not surrender Wallenberg’s body. His parents took their lives due to the indifference of the whole world. If Raoul is indeed dead, then he is a ”Hero without a grave”, as coined by the historian Yoav Tenenbaum, who volunteers for the Wallenberg Foundation.

In the framework of our efforts to secure information on the subject, we have launched a campaign to collect tens of thousands of signatures of people from all venues of life, including Nobel Prize laureates, in the form of a petition addressed to former President Vladimir Putin.

If Raoul Wallenberg is still alive, this is a natural request, and if he is not, then at least, he would at least cease being a ”hero without a grave”.

Baruch Tenenbaum
Founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation