Hungary: Bold Tribute To a Hero

In Eastern Europe, official gestures often have hidden meanings. The statue just erected in Budapest honoring Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg was no exception. Wallenberg, who is credited with saving the lives of thousands of Hungarian Jews destined for Nazi concentration camps, disappeared shortly after being taken into Soviet custody when Hungary was liberated by the Allies in 1945. He is believed to have died while in a Soviet prison.

Moscow has never fully explained either the circumstances of his death or why it had him arrested in the first place, though some historians suggest that the Soviets considered him a U.S. agent. Thus far the statue of Wallenberg, a gift of former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Nicolas Salgo, has drawn no official comment from Moscow or Budapest.