May 2, 2008

Scholars Search for Clues to a Holocaust Mystery

Source:

Letters to the Editor

Your article raises intriguing questions that remain unanswered even today, 63 years after the abduction and disappearance of the greatest of saviors — Raoul Wallenberg [Foreign, ”Scholars Search for Clues to a Holocaust Mystery,” April 28, 2008].

This search proves the stature of this great man, whose fate stirs a great deal of interest among scholars and governments alike.

This is the least the free world can do for a person who made a difference. With no diplomatic experience, and in a matter of months, Wallenberg was able to save 100,000 Hungarian Jews from the Nazi extermination machinery.

The long time elapsed since he vanished should not deter us from continuing a relentless struggle to get answers. In this case, paradoxically, time might play in our favor, as state secrets become unveiled.

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation is an non-governmental organization with offices in New York, Jerusalem, Buenos Aires, and Berlin. With a large number of heads of state, Nobel Prize laureates, renowned scientists and artists on our Board of Honorary Members, our mission is to honor, preserve, and divulge the feats of Raoul Wallenberg and his likes, thousands of women and men who risked their lives to help the persecuted.

Recently, Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, former director of the Division of Righteous at Yad Vashem, has joined our foundation and he will coordinate and boost our efforts to identify and honor unknown saviors, gentiles and Jews alike.

At the same time, we do not forget the legacy of our late co-founder and former congressman, Tom Lantos, and keep on our constant struggle to try and find out answers regarding the fate and whereabouts of Raoul Wallenberg.

We call upon the world leaders to follow suit. One man was able to save 100,000 lives. We should all join forces to find out what happened to him.

JAMIE KREJNER
Vice President
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
Jerusalem, Israel