On the evening of August 4, 2022, on what would have been Raoul Wallenberg’s 110th birthday, the Embassy of Sweden in Budapest gathered in Saint István Park to remember Raoul and to honor his memory. Deputy leader Katarina Szécsi Åsbrink, József Sebes, president of the Raoul Wallenberg Association, and pastor Gábor Iványi spoke to the attendees. Musical performances were held by Judit Rajk, singer, Agnes Tóth, flautist and Mihály Demeniv, accordionist. Scroll down to see more photos of the event, which was publicized on Facebook.
Katarina Szécsi Asbrink emphasized that it is the responsibility of all of us to speak up and act when human rights are violated, and she also reminded that words matter, from hateful words to hate speech easily might become an action. Here is an excerpt from her speech, which can be read in full on the Embassy of Sweden – Budapest’s website:
This year, it is 110 years ago that Raoul Wallenberg was born, but his and his team´s extraordinary civil courage will never grow old. When we tell new generations about the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust, we must also tell them about the people who resisted. When we talk about unbearable evil, we must also remind them about powerful good. As we now hopefully slowly defeat the pandemic with vaccines, we constantly need to boost our ability to fight another deadly virus that unfortunately keeps on reoccurring: the virus of intolerance. […]
Today we have gathered to remember Raoul. His ability of swift decision-making, lightning-fast actions, razor-sharp thinking, and unwavering capacity for work. But also, his leadership skill which he showed when he recruited his team of 350 staff members, which were instrumental in carrying out the large-scale and dangerous rescue operations. A reminder that heroism is also organizational teamwork.
But it is not enough to tell Wallenberg´s story. We must bring his legacy onwards by educating – especially young people- about human rights, civil courage, and tolerance. The embassy works on numerous such educational projects – for example, with the Hungarian Wallenberg Association, we organize a yearly Wallenberg school competition, and together with Raoul Wallenberg Emberség Háza Egyesület, we award young Hungarians who have shown civil courage the “Young Courage Award”.
If we want to honor Wallenberg´s legacy, we need constantly to be inspired by his boldness, resolve and dedication. His deeds are a call to all of us to take a stand against intolerance and discrimination in all its forms. Most of us will never save ten-thousands of lives and most of us will never become humanitarian icons. But we can all make the firm promise never to become bystanders. As a wise person said: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is a lot of good people doing nothing. I would like to add: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is a lot of good people saying nothing. Because silence can be lethal. But so can words. Words matter. What you say matters. Above the writing desk of my German grandmother was a quote “Gewalt beginnt beim bösen Wort” – violence begins with a bad word. Hateful words and hateful speech easily turn into hateful deeds.
Every one of us has the responsibility in our life, in our time, to stand up for human rights. Standing up means speaking up and acting whenever they are violated. Because if we don’t, the Declaration of Human Rights that almost 74 years ago rose from the ashes of countless victims and converted into international law the global outcry “never again” – “soha többe” – will only be a piece of paper.
Do not fear. Speak. Act. So you can look into the eyes of your children and grandchildren and tell them that you were not silent when the hateful words were spoken. Like I, the daughter of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor and political refugee, and the relative of many non-survivors, will look into the eyes of my children, my Swedish – Hungarian – Kyrgyz – German – Jewish – Muslim – Christian – European – Asian children and tell them that I was not silent. That I stood up for human rights even when it had a price. That I called a lie a lie, racism racism, war war, and murder murder. And that the values of the Human Rights Declaration must be defended and are worth fighting for – fighting for to the same ultimate extent that many Ukrainian fathers and mothers are fighting right now.
Wallenberg never accepted the notion of “the other”. He knew that there is no “we” and “them” – there is only “us” – a wonderful, diverse, and colorful “us”. And we are all connected. Inspired by the principle “one person can make a difference”, we can mobilize against hatred, intolerance, and indifference, and strengthen this global “us”. In this quest, let Raoul Wallenberg – the man who rescued so many but wasn’t rescued by anybody, and whose fate still is hidden in secret Russian archives – be our light house, our compass, our role model.”
