Researchers: Wallenberg Budapest mission no fluke
New material suggests the Swede was well-connected with Swedish decision-makers and Hungary’s resistance movement before he was sent in 1944
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two researchers say World War II hero Raoul Wallenberg’s appointment for a mission to rescue Hungarian Jews from the Nazis may not have been as random as previously thought.
US-based Wallenberg researchers Susanne Berger and Vadim Birstein said Monday they have obtained new material that suggests the Swede was well-connected with Swedish decision-makers and Hungary’s resistance movement before he was sent to Budapest in 1944.
Berger told the AP Wallenberg “was not some green, naive guy who started from scratch when he was in Budapest.”
Credited with saving thousands of Jews in Budapest, Wallenberg vanished after being arrested in Budapest by the Soviet Red Army in 1945. The Russians have never explained why they detained the Swedish diplomat.
