Holocaust survivor recalls kindness of Swedes at Wallenberg exhibition

“To me, there’s no other choice” said Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg about saving the lives of thousands of Jews in Hungary from 1944 to 1945. Wallenberg provided Jews with protective Swedish documentation, set up safe houses in Budapest’s “International Ghetto”, and physically intervened to stop convoys of Jews being transported to Nazi death camps in Poland.

Wallenberg’s bravery and selflessness is being honoured at a new temporary exhibition at the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre (JHGC) in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish Institute. A new film titled Courageous Rescuer: Raoul Wallenberg produced by Gregor Nowinksi was shown at the launch on 24 November.

There, JHGC director Tali Nates spoke to Holocaust survivor Irene Fainman, whose story is linked to Sweden. Fainman (nee Krausz) was born in the Netherlands to a Hungarian father and English mother. In 1942, Fainman, her mother, and brother were taken to the Westerbork Nazi transit camp and then to Ravensbrück concentration camp outside Berlin. Her father was murdered at Buchenwald on his 43rd birthday.

She recalled 28 April 1945, the day she was rescued by the Swedish Red Cross, in the dying days of World War II. She was nine years old. Amid chaos, as the Russians were bombing Berlin, Fainman’s mother was told to head for white buses the Swedish Red Cross had provided. They could accommodate only 20 people each. The kindly Swedish bus driver, Sven, gave little Irene his sheepskin coat to stop her shivering. One of the other buses was bombed.

They travelled across war-torn Germany to Copenhagen in Denmark, and then by ferry to Malmö, Sweden. Many people died from overeating in quarantine, and the survivors were disinfected for vermin. After a hot bath and receiving clean clothes, they were housed in an old castle that operated as a museum (including dinosaur displays) in Malmö, an amazing sight for a nine-year-old.

“The kindness we experienced from the Swedish people was incredible,” Fainman said. “My mother said they were angels from heaven. They were so caring. They gave me dolls – what childhood had I had in the camps? To Sweden, I say a big, big thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Christian Fogelström, Sweden’s deputy ambassador to South Africa, said, “As a Swedish diplomat, there can be no greater inspiration than Raoul Wallenberg. He showed how one person can make a difference. His actions are a reminder of the important and dangerous work of human rights defenders, demanding accountability daily.”

The film and exhibition chronicle Wallenberg’s remarkable life. Trained as an architect and operating as a businessman, he was sent to Budapest to spearhead a scheme to save Jews. Hungary’s 800 000 Jews had survived most of the war, but in 1944, about 500 000 were deported to the death camps in Poland in just two months, overseen by the notorious Nazi leader, Adolf Eichmann, himself.

Wallenberg issued many Jews with “protective passports”, documents that placed them under the protection of the Swedish government. About 7 500 were officially issued, but many thousands of forged copies were also produced.

After Hungary broke its alliance with Germany on 15 October 1944, the Nazis helped the antisemitic Arrow Cross overthrow the new government that same day. Eichmann returned, and the deportations resumed. Wallenberg rented more than 30 properties to house Jews in what came to be called the International Ghetto in Budapest. They were effectively then sovereign Swedish territory. At great personal risk, Wallenberg intervened to stop Jews being shot and dumped into the River Danube. He also managed to stop the Arrow Cross from bombing Budapest’s two Jewish ghettos.

In late December 1944, the Soviet Red Army occupied Budapest. The last time Wallenberg was seen alive was on 17 January 1945, as he was taken for questioning by the Russians on suspicion of being a spy. There has been much speculation about his disappearance and his fate. In 1957, the Russians claimed he had died in custody in Moscow in 1947, but the truth remains shrouded in mystery. Many swear he was still alive decades later.

In 1963, Wallenberg was recognised by Israel’s Yad Vashem Museum as a “Righteous Among the Nations”, its highest honour for non-Jews who rescued Jews in the Holocaust.

Nates also mentioned that Wallenberg had worked in Cape Town for a few months in 1936. “This must have reinforced how he saw the world and what he did, seeing people being targeted for nothing, just for who they were,” Nates said.

Nates told the SA Jewish Report, “It’s so important to give survivors like Irene a platform to speak. They are going to be with us for only a limited time. There are only about 15 survivors left in Johannesburg. We must give them the space to tell us about every aspect of their lives.

“Wallenberg shows us the importance of standing up for ethics, morality, and selflessness,” she said. “This film showed his heroism went beyond just stamping passports.”