Rescue in Budapest: Raoul Wallenberg’s Mission to Save the Last Jews of Europe

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg’s heroic actions to save tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary in 1944, Montclair State is featuring a series of free events – films, lectures, panels, an art exhibit and a concert – that will run from October 6  through December 18 at the University and in Montclair and Bloomfield, New Jersey.  
 
The two-month program, "Rescue in Budapest: The 70th Anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg’s Mission to Save the Last Jews of Europe,” will focus on numerous themes, including the extraordinary humanitarian rescue of Jews, the Holocaust in Hungary and the history, culture and achievements of Hungarian Jewry. The events will also explore the nature of rescue in the face of fierce Nazi determination to make Europe Judenrein (free of Jews) and the severe penalties for assisting Jews.

Kicking off the free series on October 6 will be two ongoing exhibitions at the University’s Life Hall. Waldsee: 1944 features artistic renderings of postcards the Germans forced Jewish deportees to send to their families to deceive them about their living conditions and a poster exhibit that provides a biographical account of the life and accomplishments of Raoul Wallenberg, who reportedly was arrested by Soviet authorities in 1945 and subsequently disappeared.  Other exhibition items include actor Adrien Brody’s photograph of Auschwitz taken while filming the movie ‘The Pianist" and a print by acclaimed contemporary artist Judy Chicago.

For a full list of events, visit the 2014 Rescue in Budapest Series page.

“Rescue in Budapest: The 70th Anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg’s Mission to Save the Last Jews of Europe” was organized by Montclair State University’s Global Education Center; Harry A. Sprague Library; College of the Arts; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; School of Communication and Media; WMSC Radio; Jewish American Studies Program; Office of Equity and Diversity and the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Project. This series was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Additional support has been provided by The Hungary Initiatives Foundation; Holocaust Council of Greater MetroWest; Congregation B’nai Keshet of Montclair; Temple Ner Tamid of Bloomfield; Consulate General of Sweden in New York and Montclair Public Library.