An unexpected postscript to the story of the rescue of Jews in Budapest by Wallenberg and the Swedish Legation during the Holocaust

Per Anger, was a young Swedish diplomat in Budapest, who became a friend and partner of Raoul Wallenberg in the rescue of the Jews in Budapest. For his daring activity, he too was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. In 1981 he published his memoirs “With Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest”, in which he described the rescue operation that was put in place, his last encounter with Wallenberg, and analyzes the efforts (or lack of them) to find Wallenberg.

In the book he also talks about a short return to Budapest in the fall of 1956. At that time he was stationed in Vienna, and following the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution, was sent on a short mission to Budapest to report about the situation and to help the Swedish legation staff. He described how, on his return to Vienna, he witnessed the many refugees who were pouring across the border and into the refugee camps that had been set up. “In Andau, the bus was parked on a little hill near the border and I headed for the canal, where I found the two students again. The refugees arrived at the same time of night as before, and the same scenes took place. I led the group of refugees to the bus and the waiting Margit Lemmel [of the organization Save the Children in Sweden], who efficiently carried out shuttle service between Andau and the receiving camp. Among the refugees were several Jews whom Wallenberg and we had once rescued with Swedish protective passports. An elderly Hungarian woman fell, weeping, into my arms. She had recognized me from that day at the end of 1944 when, at the railway station in Budapest, I succeeded in rescuing a number of Jews from deportation. She was one of them! It was a strange and touching reminder of the days in Hungary with Raoul Wallenberg.”