Raoul Wallenberg is remembered for his humanitarian activity on behalf of Hungarian Jews at the end of World War II. He is the Swedish diplomat who disappeared in the Soviet Gulag, celebrated in many parts of the Western world as a great humanitarian. 2012 is the 100th anniversary of his birth.
But how do we remember him? There are 31 Wallenberg monuments in 12 countries on five continents: from Hungary to Sweden, from Canada to Chile, from Australia to Russia. How can the monument genre, misused by fascism and communism, be an adequate medium to commemorate a democratic hero of our times?
TANJA SCHULT is a researcher and teacher at Stockholm University. She completed her PhD at Humboldt University in Berlin. She is the author of many articles and A Hero’s Many Faces: Raoul Wallenberg in Contemporary Monuments.
