The Government of Hungary has decided to declare 2012 as Wallenberg Year in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who rescued tens of thousands of Hungarians during World War II. Our purpose is to pay tribute to his human greatness, and also to commemorate all those who saved lives together with him or like him, amidst the inhumanity of oppressive regimes.
On this occasion the Embassy hosted a gala dinner on 8 November 2012, where the special guest was Lovice Maria Ullein-Reviczky, whose father, Antal Ullein-Reviczky knew Wallenberg personally and more importantly, was a well-known opponent of Nazism and a key figure in the Hungarian resistance movement. The Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks’ message for the centennial dinner was presented by Vivian Vineman, President of the Board of Deputies of the British Jews, the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office was represented by Deputy State Secretary Ferenc Kumin.
Ambassador János Csák in his speech pointed out that Raoul Wallenberg had received the “Righteous Among the Nations” award from the State of Israel and is respected not only in his native country, but also in Hungary, the USA and all over the world. Wallenberg built, he said, his strength and courage on the simple belief that there is good or evil, right or wrong, and there are times when we have to stand up for our values whatever the odds for success might be and we can only be faithful to his legacy, if we embrace and teach his example to each and every generation to come.
Before the dinner Lovice Maria Ullein-Reviczky and Professor Robert Christian Bachmann were presented with the Order of Merit of Hungary for their invaluable merits in enriching cultural relationships between the Hungarian and other nations and for promoting the values of Hungarian culture abroad.
The Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks’ message