Who Is Raoul Wallenberg?

Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat in Nazi-occupied Hungary who led an extensive and successful mission to save the lives of nearly 100,000 Hungarian Jews. Though his efforts to save Jews from the Holocaust is one of the most treasured aspects of that time, his fate and ultimate death is unknown still to this day.
- Early Life & Education
- Professional Life During Hitler's Rise
- The Holocaust Hits Hungary
- Swedish Efforts to Save Jews
- Wallenberg's Arrival in Hungary
- Wallenberg's Diplomacy
- "Swedish Houses" & Other Saving Efforts
- "Death Marches," Deportation, & Last-Ditch Efforts
- Russian Liberation of Hungary
- Wallenberg's Arrest & Disappearance
- Investigations into Wallenberg's Fate
Early Life & Education
Raoul belonged to one of the most famous families in Sweden, the large Wallenberg family. It was a family that contributed to Sweden bankers, diplomats and politicians during several generations in the country. Raoul's father, Raoul Oscar Wallenberg, was an officer in the navy, and his cousins Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg were two of Sweden's most famous bankers and industrialists.
Raoul's grandfather, Gustav Wallenberg, took care of Raoul's education. The plan was for him to continue the family tradition and become a banker, but he was more interested in architecture and trade.
In 1930, Wallenberg graduated with top grades in Russian and drawing. After his army service he traveled to the USA in 1931 to study architecture at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Wallenberg's personal letters reveal that he enjoyed his studies and that he spent most of his free time in studying. Still, he thoroughly enjoyed his time in Ann Arbor - he wrote to his grandfather, "When I now look back upon the last school year, I find I have had a completely wonderful time."
Wallenberg graduated with honors in only three and a half years and won a university medal that went to the student with the most impressive academic
Their stories of the Nazi persecutions affected him deeply. Perhaps because he had a very humane attitude to life and because he owned a drop of Jewish blood (Raoul's grandmother's grandfather was a Jew by the name of Benedicks whom arrived to Sweden by the end of the 18th century). Wallenberg returned to Sweden from Haifa in 1936 and resumed his old interest for business.
Through his cousin Jacobs' good contacts in the business world, Raoul was eventually brought together with Koloman Lauer, a Hungarian Jew, who was the director of a Swedish based import and export company specializing in food and delicacies. Thanks to Raoul's excellent language skills and his greater freedom of movement through Europe (Jews were not allowed to travel extensively after the rise of Hitler), he was a perfect business partner for Lauer. Within eight months, Wallenberg was a joint owner and international director of the Mid-European Trading Company.
Through his trips in Nazi-occupied France and in Germany itself, Raoul quickly learned how the German bureaucracy functioned. He also made several trips to Hungary and Budapest, where he visited Lauer's family. At that time, Hungary was still a relatively safe place in a hostile