
The announcement was made on May 28th.,
2012, before the plenary of the Conference, by Pastor
Annemarie Werner, representative of the IRWF in Berlin. The
packed audience included scholars, diplomats, researchers
and government officials from various countries.
Pastor Annemarie Werner, who flew
especially to Moscow for the occasion, greeted the audience
in Russian and highlighted the role played by the Soviet
Union and the Allied Forces in the liberation of her own
country, Germany, and the world at large, from the Nazi
regime.
At the same time, Pastor Werner urged the
Russian authorities to give full and unfettered access to
the KGB archives, in order to shed light, once and forever
the on fate and whereabouts of Raoul Wallenberg and his driver,
Vilmos Langfelder, who were abducted by the Soviet forces on
January 17th. 1945, never to be seen again.
Quoting a letter sent back in 2006 by the
then Deputy chief of the Russian Embassy in Washington to
the authorities of the IRWF, Pastor Werner highlighted the
fact that if Wallenberg was indeed executed by the Soviets,
then the responsibility lies on the Soviet supreme
leadership and on Joseph Stalin personally, and hence, it
would be highly unlikely to believe that the assassination
of such a high-profile individual such as Raoul Wallenberg,
would have not left clear archival records.
Pastor Werner also criticized the passive
role played by Sweden along the years, failing to present a
clear and strong demand to their Soviet counterparts, for
the release of Wallenberg and Langfelder. Moreover, during
the war, Sweden was neutral but provided Germany with
strategic raw materials which were needed by the latter in
her war efforts.
Some of the Swedish businessmen involved
in those dealings with Nazis, were cousins of Raoul
Wallenberg. The IRWF has copies of their passports which
show several
entries to Berlin during the war. Quite unsurprisingly, this
branch of the Wallenberg family did also nothing to help
Raoul get free.
Pastor Werner pointed out that Raoul's
mother and step-father, eventually committed suicide, out of
despair for being unable to bring Raoul back home.
His step-sister, Nina, is still alive.
His late step-brother, Guy von-Dardel, spared no effort in
his campaign for Raoul. His wife Matti and their daughter,
Louise and Marie, continue this struggle.
The main message the IRWF wants to get
through is that instead of hosting an international
conference dealing with Raoul Wallenberg, the Russian
authorities should spare no efforts and come out with clear
and credible answers as to the fate and whereabouts of Raoul
Wallenberg and Vilmos Langfelder.
Closing her keynote speech, Pastor Werner
informed the audience that the IRWF has secured an earmarked
donation of 100,000 euros, as an award to any person or
institution providing solid information leading to the
repatriation of Raoul Wallenberg and Vilmos Langfelder.
"While the exact conditions will be made public and an
official announcement, it should be clear that any
information received should be corroborated by DNA and other
accepted scientific tests.
The "Raoul Wallenberg – the Humanitarian
of the 20th Century" Conference was co-organized by The
Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, the Embassy of Sweden in Russia and the Hungarian
Cultural Center in Moscow.
Alexander CHUBARYAN, Academician,
Director of the Institute of World History of Russian
Academy of Sciences.
Tomas BERTELMAN, Ambassador of Sweden to
Russian Federation
Istvan IJGYARTO, Ambassador of Hungary to
Russian Federation
Dorit GOLENDER, Ambassador of Israel to
Russian Federation, Representative from the Embassy of the
USA in Moscow
Olle WÄSTBERG, National Coordinator for
Raoul Wallenberg 2012
Hans MAGNUSSON, Inspector-General,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden.
Alla GERBER, Chairman of the
International Research and Educational Center “Holocaust”.
Mikhail LIPKIN (Deputy Director of the
Institute of World History of Russian Academy of Sciences),
Hans MAGNUSSON, (Inspector-General,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden)
Tamás KRAUSZ (Professor, Eötvös Loránd
University, Budapest, Hungary). “Holocaust: Old Evidences –
New Myths”.
Leonid TERUSHKIN (Head of the Archive of
the International Research and Educational Center
“Holocaust”, Russia). “The Search for Testimonies about
Righteous among the Nations in Russia”.
Szabolcsz SZITA (Holocaust Museum and
Foundation, Budapest, Hungary). “Raoul Wallenberg
Humanitarian Action in Budapest”.
Kirill FEFERMAN (International Research
and Educational Center “Holocaust”, Russia). “Hungarian
Righteous among the Nations and Raoul Wallenberg”.
Robert ROZETT (Director of Library of
“Yad Vashem”, Israel). "Raoul Wallenberg Among the Righteous
of the Nations in Hungary."
Alexei KOMAROV (Leading Research Fellow,
the Institute of World History of Russian Academy of
Sciences), Krister WAHLBACK (Ambassador (ret), Professor
Emeritus of the Umea University).
Vasiliy KHRISTOFOROV (Head of the
Department of Registration and Archival Records of the
Federal Security Service of Russian Federation). “Raoul
Wallenberg: history of the archival search”.
Ingrid CARLBERG (Author, Doctor Honoris
Causa, Sweden). “Missed opportunities in the case of Raoul
Wallenberg”.
Vadim BIRSTEIN (Author, USA), Susanne
BERGER (Author, Germany). “The Fate of Raoul Wallenberg: The
Current Gaps in Russian Archival Records”.
Bengt JANGFELDT (Center for History of
Science, The Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden).
“Lwow: An Alternative Wallenberg Trail”.
Johan MATZ (Researcher, lecturer at the
Uppsala University, Sweden) “The Raoul Wallenberg case and
the Diplomatic Communication of Sweden and the USSR
1944-1947”.
Krister WAHLBACK (Ambassador (ret),
Professor Emeritus of the Umeå University, Sweden). “Foreign
Minister Unden's handling of the Wallenberg case 1945-47 in
the context of his views about the Soviet Union”.
Samuil VOLFSON (Researcher, Institute of
World History of Russian Academy of Sciences). “Perception
of Raoul Wallenberg in the contemporary Russian society:
phobias, stereotypes and myths
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