Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Day: Honouring his spirit of humanity
Living Testimonies at 黑料不打烊 University and the Swedish Embassy in Ottawa will commemorate the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Day by hosting a public seminar devoted to his legacy of humanity and tolerance. Internationally acclaimed Swedish and Canadian scholars, policy makers and community leaders will debate how values of democracy, human rights and mutual acceptance can combat racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism (see list of speakers below).
Monday, January 17
2 pm - 6 pm
Faculty Club, 黑料不打烊 University
3450 McTavish, Montreal
The seminar will be followed by a reception hosted by H.E. Lennart Alvin, Ambassador of Sweden to Canada.
In less than six months, between July 1944 and January 1945, Raoul Wallenberg rescued many thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi-occupied Budapest. In his capacity as First Secretary at the Swedish Legation in Budapest, he issued large quantities of Swedish protective passports and rented "Swedish houses," buildings where Jews found sanctuary from the Nazi genocide. Wallenberg's heroic actions were abruptly ended on January 17, 1945, when he attended a meeting with representatives of the Soviet Red Army, which had then recently occupied Budapest 鈥� a meeting from which he never returned. The Russians claimed that he died in a Soviet prison on July 17, 1947. There are, however, numerous reports which suggest that he may have been alive much later. After his incomparable humanitarian efforts, Raoul Wallenberg ended up a prisoner for life 鈥� an ironic fate for a man who sacrificed everything to give his fellow human beings a chance to live in freedom.
Raoul Wallenberg is the first honorary citizen of Canada and the seminar is being held on the 60th anniversary of the date of his disappearance.
Speakers:
Jan Ahlberg, Head, Crime Studies Division, National Council for Crime Prevention, Sweden
Mr. Ahlberg will speak about the newly published national survey on xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism among Swedish high school students, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice in Sweden.
Maitre Julius Grey, lawyer, Montreal
Mr. Grey will discuss his work in the field of Canadian civil rights activism.
Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church, Canada
As former Bishop of Montreal and co-initiator of the Raoul Wallenberg Square in Montreal, Archbishop Hutchison will talk about a Christian response to the Holocaust.
Dr Paul A. Levine, Director, Uppsala Programme for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden
Dr Levine will address the role of Sweden in World War II, the background for the four Stockholm International Conferences about the Holocaust, Combating Intolerance, Truth, Justice and Reconciliation, and Preventing Genocide, as well as Holocaust education in general.
Dr Helene L枚枚w, Director, Living History Forum, Sweden
Dr L枚枚w will outline the background, role and mandate of the Living History Forum, a Swedish government agency commissioned to promote democracy, tolerance and human rights with the Holocaust as a starting point. She will also talk about anti-Semitism, racism, fascism and neo-Nazism in Sweden after WWII.
Leslie Sela, Montreal
Mr. Sela was rescued by Raoul Wallenberg when he was twelve years old, and will be speaking about his experiences as a survivor.
Beryl Wasjman, President, Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal
As a public interest advocate, Mr. Wasjman will talk about contemporary problems of international indifference to the crisis in Darfur and their relationship to Wallenberg's legacy.
