August 10, 2016, New York, NY… Following the release of new information pertaining to the death of Raoul Wallenberg, the Conference of Presidents calls on the Russian government to be forthcoming and put an end to the 70-year-old mystery surrounding the death of the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi gas chambers.
While stationed in Budapest, Raoul Wallenberg had issued protective passports to Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust as an effort to save their lives. He was last reported to have been surrounded by Soviet officers in 1945 in Budapest. After his disappearance, former prisoners reported seeing Wallenberg or somebody they believed to be him. Years later, Soviet officers claimed he had died of a heart failure in prison.
The ongoing quest to determine Wallenberg’s fate has possibly come to an end. The diary of Ivan A. Servo, the first KGB head who ran the Russian secret police and intelligence agency from 1954-1958, was recently discovered inside the walls of his second home in northwest Moscow. The diary states: “I have no doubts that Wallenberg was liquidated in 1947.” He attributes the execution order to Stalin.
In a statement issued today, Conference of Presidents Chairman Stephen M. Greenberg, and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein, said: “We call on the Russian government to release any and all documents pertaining to Wallenberg’s death and take all necessary actions to determine what occurred. It is imperative that there be full transparency, especially in regard to the newly found Servo diary. Wallenberg’s heroism has been well documented. His courage and commitment to saving the lives of innocent people facing the Nazi killing machine are legendary. Compounding the tragedy of his disappearance and apparent murder by the Stalinist Soviet government is the lack of closure for his family and supporters. After seven decades, it is long overdue for the government of Russia to release all the documents and information related to his case and fate.”
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