Statement
OTTAWA, January 17, 2019
Today, we pay tribute to Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat whose heroic acts and ingenuity saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.
Mr. Wallenberg risked his own life to provide Hungarian Jews with a special protective passport, called the Schutz-Pass, shielding them from deportation and almost certain death in Nazi extermination camps. In addition to creating a network of shelters (hospitals, safehouses, childcare centres, and soup kitchens), Mr. Wallenberg's extraordinary humanitarian work over six months saved more Jews from the horrors of the Holocaust than the actions of any government or organization.
On January 17, 1945, Mr. Wallenberg disappeared without a trace after being taken into Soviet custody. His tragic fate remains unknown to this day. In 2001, the Government of Canada designated January 17 Raoul Wallenberg Day to honour the memory of this great man—Canada's first honorary citizen.
As Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, I encourage all Canadians to remember Mr. Wallenberg's legacy of humanism, courage and compassion.
