A righteous Australian
RAOUL Wallenberg never set foot on our shores, but among the tens of thousands of Jews he saved during the Holocaust were survivors who helped transform Australia.
RAOUL Wallenberg never set foot on our shores, but among the tens of thousands of Jews he saved during the Holocaust were survivors who helped transform Australia.
Some of these refugees were the first to pledge themselves to their new home after Australian nationality was formalised in 1949.
That was the message from Prime Minister Julia Gillard at Governement House on Monday when Wallenberg became the first ever honorary Australian citizen.
Addressing the ceremony, which was also attended by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, Governor-General Quentin Bryce, Jewish communal leaders and Holocaust survivors, Gillard said, “I believe this is entirely fitting: as a tribute to this man of moral courage and heroic example.
“This will be the first time this honour has been bestowed by our country. And I cannot imagine a more fitting individual upon whom to bestow it.”
Wallenberg, who was serving as a Swedish diplomat in Budapest in 1944, risked his life to save tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi death camps by issuing protective passports.
He was later arrested by Soviet forces on suspicion of espionage and was never seen again.
“Raoul Wallenberg’s fate may never be known for sure,” Gillard said.
“He has no grave. But his legacy endures. It is measured in the example he sets for our own and future generations.
“As the last witnesses to the horrors of World War II leave us, it is vital, it is imperative, to keep alive the memory and example of individuals like Raoul Wallenberg.”
Yad Vashem named Wallenberg Righteous Among the Nations in 1963, and he has since been made an honorary citizen of the USA, Canada, Hungary and Israel.
Governor-General Bryce said that Wallenberg’s brave, selfless and compassionate actions are proof that just one person can make a difference.
“No actions shone brighter, or reflected better on the quality of humanity, then those of Raul Wallenberg,” she said.
“These were the actions of one selfless man.”
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said that Wallenberg refused to accept that nothing could be done to help the victims of the Holocaust.
“Raoul Wallenberg matters today, nearly 70 years after he disappeared into a Soviet camp because, in part, of the contribution those he rescued from the Holocaust have made to Australia,” Abbott said.
“Australia owes so much to Jewish people, especially to those who came as refugees from war-torn Europe, some of whom Wallenberg himself saved.”
Frank Vajda was rescued by Wallenberg when he was nine years old, only seconds before he was going to be killed by the Nazis.
He came to Australia after the Holocaust and became a professor in Melbourne.
“I owe everything to Australia, but I owe my life to Raoul Wallenberg,” the 77-year-old said after the ceremony.
Wallenberg’s Australian citizenship certificate will be alternately on display at the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne, to help educate future generations about the Holocaust.
JOSHUA LEVI
The first ever honorary Australian citizen, Raoul Wallenberg.
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