The Wallenberg Secret

Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat stationed in Budapest who saved tens of thousands of Jews in the later stages of World War II. He used his consular powers to issue papers for Jewish families, enabling them to flee Nazi-controlled Hungary, and he sheltered people in Swedish buildings. He is considered a hero by many, and yet the fate of Wallenberg remains a mystery to this day – more than 70 years after the events took place. What is more, repeated attempts to shed light on his life and death have been hindered by the Russian security services, most recently this fall.

Wallenberg disappeared after Budapest was liberated by the Soviet army. The Soviet authorities announced that the diplomat died in street fighting in the city. In reality, he was arrested on suspicion of being a spy.

Though authorities later admitted that Wallenberg had died in 1947, the circumstances of his death are still unclear and have been contradicted by various inquiries and witness sightings, with some claiming he was alive as late as the 1980s.