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Home > Histories & Narratives : Raoul Wallenberg : Raoul Wallenberg Memorial

Raoul Wallenberg Memorial

Raoul Wallenberg Memorial in Stockholm, Sweden

The "Homage to Raoul Wallenberg" Monument by Danish sculptor and artist Kirsten Ortwed (b.1948) is one of the most controversial memorials associated with the Holocaust. Commissioned in 2002, it is located at Raoul Wallenberg place, near the Baltic Sea and center of old Stockholm. The main synagogue is nearby, with its own specifically Jewish Holocaust Memorial with names of victims related to Swedish Jews.

Raoul Wallenberg is known as a hero in the United States, Israel and other countries for his rescue mission and eventual disappearance into a Soviet prison, never to surface again. He probably died or was killed in 1947. However, it is generally understood that he was never given strong recognition in Sweden because of a number of complex reasons. First, he was not a career diplomat and his mission was a curious mixture of Swedish diplomacy in league with the American War Refugee Board. Secondly, Wallenberg arrived in Budapest only in July 1944 after approximately 400,000 Hungarian Jews had been deported. Thirdly, other side of the family that was involved in banking and had some involvement with the German government.

While the artist has expressed that the work reflects her anguish over the story of the Holocaust and Raoul Wallenberg's work in Budapest to rescue Jews, most observers, especially from the Stockholm Jewish community have found the monument meaningless because of its abstraction and some distortions of history which appear on accompanying signage.

More on Raoul Wallenberg

• History and information on Raoul Wallenberg
• Artwork dedicated to Wallenberg
  

Homage to Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Photo Gallery

The Raoul Wallenberg Monument in New York

Other Memorials to Wallenberg

• To Remember - The Outstanding Deed The Swedish Parliament, 1998
• Raoul Wallenberg Monument by Charolette Gyllenhammar, Sweden
• Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park, Budapest
• Raoul Wallenberg Monument, Budapest
• Raoul Wallenberg statue, Buda, Hungary