What Happened to Raoul Wallenberg?
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman and diplomat credited with saving thousands of Jews from the Germans in the waning days of the Second World War. From the summer of 1944 until late in the year he protected Hungarian Jews by issuing them Swedish passports and sheltering them on properties designated as Swedish territory under diplomatic and international law.
When the Soviet Army besieged Budapest Wallenberg was arrested by Russian authorities under suspicion of espionage and imprisoned. Over a decade later it was reported that he had died while in Soviet custody, of natural causes. The Soviets reported his death to have occurred in July 1947, with the cause of death being heart failure.
After his “death” was reported by the Soviets, several former prisoners and even guards reported having seen Wallenberg, at least one as late as the 1960s. Wallenberg was reported as being in Soviet custody in the infamous Lubyanka Prison. Reasons for his being held by the Soviets have been largely speculation, ranging from his alleged connections with US intelligence to his having been involved in espionage activities against the Hungarians.
Wallenberg was reported as being murdered by the Gestapo in 1945, dead of natural causes in 1947, murdered by the Russians while in custody in 1947, alive on Wrangel Island in 1962, and alive in another Soviet prison in 1987. He was finally officially declared dead in 2016 by Swedish Authorities.
Wallenberg’s relationship with US intelligence, as well as his activities subverting the pro-Nazi Hungarian government during the Second World War is still the subject of speculation, with the governments of several nations, including Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Hungary, the United States, and Sweden all issuing conflicting statements regarding his actions. The story of Raoul Wallenberg, which includes his often visibly contentious relationship with representatives of Nazi Germany in Budapest, remains a mystery which becomes more entangled the more one attempts to unravel it.