Wallenberg’s Birthday Celebrated Across the World
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation celebrated Wallenberg’s 98th Birthday from its offices in Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, and New York. Numerous Holocaust survivors reunited on August 4th at the headquarters of Casa Argentina en Israel Tierra Santa (CAITS) in Buenos Aires. Tomas Kertesz, one of the Wallenberg survivors, was in charge of blowing out the candles, while the Happy Birthday song was sung. Members of the Board and many friends of the IRWF and CAITS were present for the occasion. The IRWF’s delegates in Jerusalem and New York placed flowers at the monuments dedicated to Raoul Wallenberg in Tel Aviv and New York City. A birthday celebration was also organized in the Raoul Wallenberg School, which is located in Babahoyo, Ecuador, with the participation of the school’s teachers and students.
To read more click here.
Wallenberg Survivors’ Special Note on His Birthday
To commemorate Raoul Wallenberg’s 98th birthday, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation invited Wallenberg survivors to share their thoughts on the man who saved their lives. A message from George Boros sent from Canada reads:
”Since no words could ever express my eternal gratitude to you, Raoul Wallenberg, I named my child, Raoul T. Boros, born in London, 1957, after you, for saving his grandmother’s life on November 27, 1944, at the Budapest brick factory.”
Read the complete birthday note.
Portuguese Diplomat Declared Righteous Among the Nations
The Portuguese Mission to the UN confirmed that Carlos Almeida Afonseca de Sampayo Garrido, Ambassador Plenipotentiary for Portugal in Budapest, 1944, has finally been recognized as a ”Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem earlier this year.
Dr. Garrido helped numerous Hungarian Jews who came to the Portuguese diplomatic mission in 1944 seeking Portuguese protection. Along with Branquinho, Garrido rented houses and apartments to help shelter and protect refugees from deportation and murder.
The IRWF honored both Sampayo Garrido and his charge de affairs Carlos de Liz-Texeira Branquinho in 2006.
To read more click here.
I Wanted to Know Everything – Denis Avey’s Story
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation has commissioned painter Felix de la Concha to create a portrait and interview Denis Avey, the only man to enter Auschwitz on his own. During the WWII, Denis Avey was captured and sent to a compound for British war prisoners connected to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Governed by a wish to see for himself what was going on inside the camp, Avey managed to switch identities with a Jewish prisoner and spent two days inside the camp. ”It was a hell on earth. The most evil place possible.” he confessed to Mr. De La Concha during the interview at his Derbyshire home this June.
To read more click here.
New Honorary Members of the IRWF
IRWF is proud to welcome new honorary members who joined the foundation in August:
Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland
Arthur Foulkes, Governor General of the Bahamas
Lodewijk de Witte, Governor of Flemish Brabant, Belgium
Hazel Williams, Lord Mayor of Liverpool, UK
Mark Hackett, Lord Mayor of Manchester, UK
Piotr Uszok, Mayor of Katowice, Poland
For the full list of Honorary Members click here.
