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Home » Themes » People » Foreigners
Raoul WallenbergPrint Page 
The monument commemorates the courageous Swedish diplomat and humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg who undertook one of the most significant rescue of Jews during the Holocaust in World War Two. In 2013, Raoul Wallenberg was made Australia`s first honorary citizen by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
The monument created by sculptor Karl Duldig, was initiated by Professor Frank Vajda, Head of the Free Wallenberg Australian Committee. Professor Frank Vajda owes his life to Wallenberg who saved him during World War Two. In 1945, aged nine, Professor Vajda was lined up with his mother against a wall waiting for the Nazis to shoot him when Wallenberg intervened, saving him, his mother and 30 other Jews.
Based in Budapest, Raoul Wallenberg set up a department which issued local Jews with important-looking protection certificates, emblazoned with a yellow and blue flag and Sweden`s crown. The holders of these "Wallenberg passports" were protected from the Nazi bureaucracy and thereby avoided being deported to Auschwitz. In the last days of the war he foiled Nazi plans to blow up two ghettos, an act which alone saved 100 000 Jews. Raoul Wallenberg disappeared into Soviet Union custody in 1945, and at one time the Soviets claimed that he had died in custody in 1947, but it is unknown what really happened to Wallenberg.
Location
| Address: | Princess & High Streets, Raoul Wallenberg Garden, Kew, 3101 |
|---|---|
| State: | VIC |
| Area: | Foreign |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.807153 Long: 145.029108 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Monument |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Foreigners |
| Artist: | Karl Duldig |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Thursday 17th January, 1985 |
|---|
RAOUL WALLENBERG
1912 -
RAOUL WALLENBERG GARDEN
Plaque:
RAOUL WALLENBERG
Swedish Diplomat, Humanitarian, Hero
Of The Holocaust.
In Budapest, Hungary, In 1944 He Saved
The Lives Of Tens Of Thousands Of
People Threatened By Nazi Mass Murder.
He Was Arrested On January 17th 1945
By Soviet Troops, And Has Been
Imprisoned In The Soviet Union Ever
Since.
Erected January 17 1985
