During the formal „hearing“ in the Swedish Parliament on 7 February (this year, ed.), Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde claimed that „the Swedish government has worked over the years to achieve the greatest possible clarity in this case through dialogue with the Soviet Union and Russia in cooperation with other countries“. („Over the years, the government has worked to achieve the greatest possible clarity in the case through dialogue with the Soviet Union and Russia and in cooperation with other countries.“) She added that „Sweden has consistently requested all available documents about Raoul Wallenberg.“ („Sweden has consistently requested all available documentation on Raoul Wallenberg.“) (SvD, 23/2)
However, a review of the facts in the present case speaks against this.
It is clear that successive Soviet and Russian governments deliberately kept important information about Raoul Wallenberg’s disappearance and the official version of his death in a Soviet prison on 17 July 1947 secret.
When Swedish diplomats received information in 2009 that Raoul Wallenberg was „very likely“ identical to a so-called Prisoner No. 7 who was interrogated on 22 and 23 July 1947 – six days after Wallenberg’s official date of death – this was the most sensational news in the Wallenberg case since 1957. Nevertheless, the Swedish government did not take any decisive steps.
Neither former Foreign Minister Carl Bildt nor former Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt mentioned the new information during the visit of then Russian President Medvedev to Stockholm in 2009. The topic was also not mentioned in 2010 at a meeting with the then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The Swedish government knew that it had been deceived for decades – even during the years when an official investigation supposedly „left no stone unturned“ – but decided not to protest.
When two high-ranking Russian State Security Service (FSB) archivists independently confirmed in 2011 and 2012 that Raoul Wallenberg was identical to Prisoner No. 7, Swedish officials stamped the information as secret and – again – did nothing. They also failed to inform Raoul Wallenberg’s family or his researchers.
When FSB officials subsequently denied members of Raoul Wallenberg’s family and Swedish diplomats access to important documents about Detainee No. 7, the Swedish Foreign Ministry did not protest vigorously. Nor did any senior Swedish official ever publicly raise the issue.
In 2011, the former deputy head of the FSB Directorate for Registration and Archive Collections, Colonel Vladimir Vinogradov, informed a Swedish diplomat in Moscow [that] Raoul Wallenberg was definitely interrogated after his official death date of 17 July 1947. Colonel Vinogradov did not say „It could be so,“ but he said „It was so.“ Vinogradov’s statement is the clearest confirmation that the official Soviet version of Raoul Wallenberg’s fate is a lie. But instead of immediately investigating Colonel Vinogradov’s claim and clarifying the situation, the Swedish Foreign Ministry decided to ignore the information and keep it secret.
When FSB officials denied Raoul Wallenberg’s family members and Swedish diplomats access to key documents about Prisoner No. 7, no strong Swedish protests followed. Moreover, the final report on the official investigation into the Wallenberg case, published by the Swedish Foreign Ministry in late 2012, stated that the FSB had „downplayed“ its claim that Raoul Wallenberg and Prisoner No. 7 were identical since 2009. Swedish officials failed to mention that they had heard the exact opposite behind the scenes.
The Swedish government likes to take every opportunity to honour Raoul Wallenberg as a Swedish hero and thus a symbol of civil courage. But the honours ring false when it is clear that Swedish officials are obviously not „doing what they can“ to solve the case.
In a parliamentary debate in April 2018, former Foreign Minister Margot Wallström twice avoided answering questions about Prisoner No. 7. This was despite the fact that she should have been well aware that Russian sources had confirmed that prisoner no. 7 was Raoul Wallenberg. Nevertheless, the current Foreign Minister Ann Linde dares to say: „Over the years, the Swedish government has worked to achieve the greatest possible clarity in the case of Raoul Wallenberg.“
Against this background, it is encouraging that Foreign Minister Linde personally addressed the Wallenberg family’s recent request for access to information and documents that are clearly available in Russian archives during her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on 4 February.
However, there are still important questions that the Swedish government itself must answer.
Why has the Foreign Ministry not insisted that Russia provide additional information about Prisoner No. 7?
Why was Raoul Wallenberg’s family, researchers and the Swedish public not told that Russian sources clearly confirmed as early as October 2011 that the Swedish diplomat was still alive after his official date of death? And why has the Swedish Foreign Ministry apparently accepted the Russian claim that no further relevant information about Wallenberg’s disappearance is available? The Russian authorities do not necessarily know every detail about Wallenberg’s fate, but they certainly know more than they have publicised so far
It is a real scandal. Raoul Wallenberg deserves better.
His fate is still important, both for his family and for the Swedish public. The government must now make it clear that the case will remain an official matter until the outstanding questions about Raoul Wallenberg’s disappearance have been fully clarified.
Mikael Oscarsson is a member of the Swedish parliament.
Source: Svenska Dagbladet , 15 March 2020 .
Contact: info@fritz-bauer-blog.de
Quote: „Raul Wallenberg deserves better“, by Mikael Oscarsson, Svenska Dagbladet , 15 March 2020, in: Fritz Bauer Blog, 17 March 2020, URL: https://www.fritz-bauer-blog.de/de/startseite/aktuell/raoul-wallenberg-hat-besseres-verdient-18-03-2020.