Inside AJHS: The Raoul Wallenberg Memorial

Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish man who was recruited by War Refugee Board to rescue Hungarian Jews in 1944, the largest population of Jewish people remaining in Europe after the Nazi German takeover. When the Nazi’s entered Hungary, over 400,000 Jewish people were deported and immediately taken to concentration camps resulting in the death of approximately 320,000 of these people. 200,000 Jewish people remained in Budapest after this initial deportation, however, which is where Raoul Wallenberg comes in. With authorisation from neutral state Sweden, he began passing out certificates of protection issued by Swedish legislation, called Schutz Passes. These passes allowed Jewish people to enter safe houses, prevent them from entering into camps, and provide protection and removal from Nazi efforts, with 100,000 Jewish people being protected due to Wallenburg and other collaborative efforts. Once Soviet forces liberated Budapest, Wallenberg disappeared. It was suspected that he was arrested for espionage charges and put into Lubyanka Prison. From there, he whereabouts is completely unknown. Soviet Russia claimed that Wallenberg died in 1947 however, eyewitness statements from after this date call this into question. In 2016, he was formally declared dead, however, it is still highly debated whether he is still alive, when he died if he did, and where his final resting place is.

In 2024, the AJHS was given a donation by Peter Forrester containing various documents on Raoul Wallenberg collected by both him and his father, Erwin Forrester. Erwin Forrester was one of the 100,000 Jewish people that was given a Schutz Pass by Raoul Wallenberg in 1944 while in Hungary. After the war, he migrated to Australia but never forgot about the man who gave him the ability to flee back in Budapest. This resulted in years of work and effort to return the favour to Wallenberg, Forrester hoping to pay Wallenberg back for saving his life during World War 2.

While in Australia, Forrester gave a lot of effort to commemorating and acknowledging the efforts of Wallenburg. This includes a large collection of scrapbooks complied by his son, Peter Forrester, which hold publications, news articles and letters all relating to Wallenburg including his efforts in Budapest, the fate of Wallenburg, contribution to memorial and honorary citizenship. There is also a physical copy of Erwin Forrester’s Schutz Pass within the collection that can be viewed. Forrester also collected memorabilia, photographs and transcripts that all unpack the efforts of Wallenburg and his lasting legacy such as speeches given in his memory, movie promotional picture about Wallenburg’s story and commemorative items such as the stamp collection of Wallenburg.

To pay Wallenburg respect, a memorial was resurrected titled the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Garden in Woollahra. This collection shows the efforts of not only Forrester but also other members of the community in campaigning and creating this monument. There is various correspondence between different organisation that helped establish the memorial, as well as photographs of the erection and building of the monument and the garden itself. It also includes invitations and articles about the ceremonial opening in 1985 with multiple survivors, including Forrester, in attendance.

Another aspect that Forrester contributed to be the honorary citizenship of Raoul Wallenberg. After disappearing in 1945, Wallenburg has never been documented or located. To thank him for his efforts in the war, many countries including Australia has awarded Wallenburg with honorary citizenship. This award was advocated for by the survivors who landed in Australia from Wallenberg’s efforts including Erwin Forrester.  This collection holds multiple transcripts of speeches, newspaper clippings and photographs of Forrester at events campaigning for his citizenship in Australia. It was honoured in 2013 in a ceremony with photographs kept in the collection.