Wallenberg suicide secrets emerge after three decades
New documents have shown that the mother and stepfather of Raoul Wallenberg both committed suicide in 1979 having dedicated much of their lives in a despairing search for the missing Swedish diplomat who helped rescue thousand of Jews from extinction during the Second World War, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Wallenberg's mother Maj von Dardel and his stepfather Fredrik von Dardel made relentless attempts after the diplomat's 1945 disappearance to gain information about his whereabouts and secure his safe return.
Family archives, large parts of which have been viewed for the first time by the Wall Street Journal, bear witness to an increasing sense of desperation on the part of the elderly couple.
On February 12th 1979, Fredrik von Dardel, aged 93, took an overdose of sleeping pills and died in his bed. Two days later, 87-year-old Maj von Dardel was found dead on her sofa after swallowing an overdose of barbiturates.
Raoul Wallenberg helped prevent thousands of Jews from being sent to the Nazi concentration camps after moving to Budapest in 1944 to work with the US-run War Refugee Board.
He was taken prisoner by the Soviet Union in 1945 and his fate has never been revealed.
Comments
See Also
Wallenberg's mother Maj von Dardel and his stepfather Fredrik von Dardel made relentless attempts after the diplomat's 1945 disappearance to gain information about his whereabouts and secure his safe return.
Family archives, large parts of which have been viewed for the first time by the Wall Street Journal, bear witness to an increasing sense of desperation on the part of the elderly couple.
On February 12th 1979, Fredrik von Dardel, aged 93, took an overdose of sleeping pills and died in his bed. Two days later, 87-year-old Maj von Dardel was found dead on her sofa after swallowing an overdose of barbiturates.
Raoul Wallenberg helped prevent thousands of Jews from being sent to the Nazi concentration camps after moving to Budapest in 1944 to work with the US-run War Refugee Board.
He was taken prisoner by the Soviet Union in 1945 and his fate has never been revealed.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.