While Raoul was in Budapest, he affected many people's lives from Jewish orphans to Adolf Eichmann himself. Presented here are just a few of the interesting personal accounts that testify to the kind of man this Angel of Rescue really was.

Joni Moser
"I was Wallenberg's errand boy. As I spoke German as well as Hungarian I could pass through barriers and therefore was well equipped to be a messenger." Moser tells of the day that Wallenberg learned of 800 Jewish labour service men who were being marched to Mauthausen. He drove with Wallenberg to the march. Wallenberg asked that those with Swedish passports raise their hands. "On his order, I ran between the ranks and told the men to raise their hands, whether they had a passport or not. He then claimed custody of all who had raised their hands and such was his bearing that none of the Hungarian guards opposed him. The extraordinary thing was the absolutely convincing power of his behavior."

Sandor Ardai
Sandor Ardai took turns being Raoul's personal driver, with Vilmos Langfelder, for about a month and a half. One day in November, he drove Wallenberg to a train station where a train load of Jews was about to leave for Auschwitz. Wallenberg forced his way past the SS officers. "Then he climbed up on the roof of the train and began handing in protective passes through the doors which were not yet sealed. He ignored orders from the Germans for him to get down, then the Arrow Cross men began shooting and shouting at him to go away. He ignored them and calmly continued handing out passports to the hands that were reaching out for them....after Wallenberg had handed over the last of the passports he ordered all those who had one to leave the train and walk to a caravan of cars parked nearby, all marked in Swedish colours....the Germans and Arrow Cross were so dumbfounded they let him get away with it!"

Tibor and Agnes Vandor
Tibor and his wife, Agnes were employees of Wallenberg. Mrs. Vandor was about to have a baby. All hospitals were barred to Jews and the houses were highly overcrowded. Wallenberg found a doctor and took the Vandors to his flat on Ostrom Street. There, he gave young Agnes his bed and went into the hallway to sleep. In the early morning, the doctor announced the arrival of Yvonne Maria Eva. The Vandors asked Raoul to be her godfather and he graciously accepted.

Thirty-five years later, the incident was described in a Toronto newspaper in an article about Wallenberg. Mrs. Yvonne Singer recognized the incident as the story of her own birth. She was baffled because her parents had always denied their Jewish roots, in hopes of blotting out a part of them that had only brought suffering. She was raised Christian and when she grew up and fell in love with a Jewish man, her parents forbade her to marry him. She defied them, and converted to Judaism herself. For her to find out that she was actually Jewish by birth was a twist of irony.

Lars Berg and Gote Carlsson
Lars and Gote also worked with Raoul at the Swedish legation. Wallenberg, one night had invited his rival Adolf Eichmann and his deputy, Krumey, to dinner in hopes of finding out his weaknesses. Eichmann accepted. On the evening of the dinner, Wallenberg had gotten caught up in some business and forgot. He arrived just as Eichmann and Krumey got out of their car. He had no food to serve and had given his manservant the night off. Wallenberg quickly phoned Berg and Carlsson who lived nearby in a house rented from a nobleman who had left the city. They had access to his immaculate dinnerware as well as his servants. As Berg recalls: "There was no panic in my house....[it] was fully equipped......Raoul arrived with his Germans.... Thanks to our excellent cook the dinner was a success."

After dinner, the two Germans and three Swedes moved into the living room in which they engaged in political discussion. Berg describes the encounter: "Wallenberg, who on this occasion had no special wish to negotiate with Eichmann, started a discussion about Nazism and the likely outcome of the war. Fearlessly and brilliantly he picked Nazi doctrine apart, piece by piece, and foretold the total defeat of its adherents.....I think his intention was not so much to put his own views forward as to pass on a warning to Eichmann that he would do well to stop the deportation and extermination of the Hungarian Jews." Eichmann was taken aback by Wallenberg's bold attack on him and the Fuhrer. After pitching weak propaganda phrases, he finally said: " 'I admit that you are right, Herr Wallenberg. I have never believed in Nazism, as such, but it has given me power and wealth. I know that this pleasant life of mine will soon be over. My planes will no more bring me women and wine from Paris, or delicacies from the Orient. My horses, my dogs, my luxurious quarters here in Budapest will soon be taken over by the Russians and I myself, as an SS officer will be shot on the spot. For me there will be no escape, but if I obey my orders from Berlin and exercise my power harshly enough I may prolong my respite for some time here in Budapest. I warn you therefore, Herr Legationssekretar, that I will do my best to stop you, and your Swedish diplomatic passport will not help you if I find it necessary to have you removed. Accidents do happen, even to a neutral diplomat.' " With that, Eichmann bid Wallenberg a polite farewell. Shortly after the night of their dinner, a heavy truck rammed Wallenberg's car and sped away. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Eichmann was apparently responsible.

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© 2002 The Raoul Wallenberg Committee.
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