On October 5, 1981, Raoul Wallenberg became the second person in history to be awarded Honorary U.S. Citizenship. This great honor was bestowed on Wallenberg for his remarkable rescuing mission that saved the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.
In memory of that day and to further honor Wallenberg’s legacy of bravery and humanitarianism the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation has campaigned to establish October 5th as Raoul Wallenberg Day throughout the United States.
In 2018 governors of Arizona, Connecticut, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin have proclaimed October 5th as Raoul Wallenberg Day in their respective states, for which we are truly grateful.
Some of the states like Connecticut or Michigan are our long time partners, joining our initiative for the eighth time; others, like North Carolina or Wisconsin have proclaimed Raoul Wallenberg Day for the first time this year.
To better understand the impact that these proclamations have one can bear in mind that the population of the participating states surpasses 60 million people, out of which more than 10 million students enrolled in colleges and schools. If only a fraction of them has became familiar with Raoul Wallenberg on this October 5, we strongly believe that the values of solidarity, human dignity, liberty, justice and civic courage that he embodied, would continue to shed light for the future generations to follow.
For the full list of the states who have proclaimed Raoul Wallenberg Day so far, click here.
