c. July 17, 1947
Soviet Authorities Claim Raoul Wallenberg Died
Historical context
Soviet authorities later said Raoul Wallenberg died in Moscow’s Lubyanka prison on July 17, 1947. His fate has never been independently established.
Archive record
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- Date
- c. July 17, 1947
- Verified sources
- 1
- Archive threads
- 4
Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat sent to Budapest in July 1944, issued protective papers and helped operate safe houses that shielded tens of thousands of Jews. Soviet forces detained him in Budapest on 17 January 1945.
In 1957 the Soviet government said a prison doctor had reported that Wallenberg died of a heart attack in Lubyanka on 17 July 1947. Later archival work has left that claim in doubt. Sweden declared him legally dead in 2016. This article dates the Soviet-claimed death, not a verified burial.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- Raoul Wallenberg and the Rescue of Jews in Budapest · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum · Holocaust Encyclopedia View source
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