Wallenberg Year opens in Hungary

In remembrance of the Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews in World War II, a series of events called the 'Wallenberg Year' was launched in Budapest on the day he was last seen in 1945.

Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi was joined by his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt and Israeli Government Minister Yossi Peled at the opening of an exhibition ‘Man Amidst Inhumanity’ about Raoul Wallenberg at the National Museum in Budapest.

The exhibition whose opening was also attended by members of Wallenberg’s family and Holocaust survivors Wallenberg saved is part of a series of events commemorating the centennial of the birth of the Swedish diplomat.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, János Martonyi set Wallenberg, who used his special status to save the lives of many people, as an example for diplomats. He added that Raoul Wallenberg is one of the most important ties connecting Hungary and Sweden.

The Swedish Foreign Minister said Wallenberg “risked his life in a struggle against one of the evil ideologies that has haunted our continent. There is a duty never to forget, always to remember. We have to pass on the knowledge of what happened during the Holocaust to generations to come."