Article by Susanne Berger, Senior Fellow, OVED for Human Rights and The Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights
August 4th marks the 110th birthday of Raoul Wallenberg. Happy Birthday to a remarkable man whose important legacy of compassion, activism and exceptional courage continues to grow and become ever more poignant. In one of the darkest moments of history, Wallenberg represented the one thing the world needed most – hope for the future. It is a good moment to tell him and other human rights defenders, past and present, a heartfelt Thank You for standing up against the powers of evil when nobody else dares to.
We find ourselves reminded every day how special their willingness to confront the overpowering brutality of war and dictatorship truly is. For their courage, activists like Raoul Wallenberg suffer enforced disappearance, illegal detention and torture – often for decades. Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexey Navalny in Russia, Maria Ressa in the Philippines, Nadia Murad in Iraq and countless others offer inspiration and hope that somehow, against all odds, humanistic ideals and democratic values will prevail.
But they cannot do it alone – we have to find a way to do our part to confront injustice and human rights violations in whatever way possible. The smallest gesture can be of great consequence. As Wallenberg showed the world, one person can make an enormous difference.
So, in honor of Raoul Wallenberg’s special day, write a letter, make a phone call, donate to your favorite cause, sign a petition, retweet an appeal, take a stand.
That is exactly what Zsuzsa Hegedüs, the longtime advisor to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, did last week. She resigned in protest of her boss giving “a pure Nazi speech” that she said was “worthy of [Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph] Goebbels”.
It certainly does feel like “history repeating”, not only in Hungary. The war in Ukraine and the global deterioration of the status of human rights illustrate very clearly how relevant Raoul Wallenberg’s example of humanitarian action remains. So do the issues at the heart of the Wallenberg investigation, including the right of victims of repression and their families to reliable information and the truth about their fate. These are as centrally important as they were 77 years ago, when Raoul Wallenberg was detained and taken to Moscow, in violation of his diplomatic status and various international laws.
As it happens, this month marks the expiration of key documentation in Russian archives regarding Wallenberg’s disappearance. We recently reported about this important milestone in The Jerusalem Post. On the Swedish side, too, many important questions and issues remain. They include the handling of all official information and documentation regarding the Raoul Wallenberg case in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For an inside look at the procedures and problems that continue to persist with the official Wallenberg case file, and the resulting consequences for the Wallenberg investigation, please see the short excerpt below and check out the full text in the enclosed file. You will also find other interesting news, including a seminal German court decision regarding freedom of information, as well as a landmark submission in the case of Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak in the circular below.
https://www.academia.edu/84135225/The_Raoul_Wallenberg_Research_Initiative_RWI_70_Circular_3_2022
“A High Degree of Confidentiality Would Result in Increased Openness” – New insights from the official Raoul Wallenberg case file in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Wishing everybody a healthy, peaceful, and somewhat hopeful rest of the summer – we will pick up our efforts at the end of August!
Susanne Berger
THE RWI-70