Raoul Wallenberg in film
Compiled by Zsuzsanna Zádori and Csaba Szilágyi
[Films marked with * are available in OSA Archivum's Film Library]
Eternal Light – One Man
Daniel Sutter, USA, 1957, 30 min, TV documentary
A reconstruction of the mysterious case of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat, who saved the lives of thousands of Hungarian Jews between 19 July 1944 - 16 January 1945. He disappeared from Budapest 17 January 1945 following a meeting with the Soviet military representatives.
Man Alive – Missing Hero
John Bierman, UK, 1980, 50 min, TV documentary
Produced for BBC TV, this documentary film reports on the mystery surrounding the fate of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi gas chambers and fell into the hands of the Russians at the end of the war.
Raoul Wallenberg – Buried Alive
David Harel, Canada, 1983, 78 or 90 min, documentary
The film reconstructs the story of a young man who became one of the great heroes of WW II without wearing a uniform or firing a gun. Raoul Wallenberg, a wealthy Swedish Protestant, saved the lives thousands Hungarian Jews from the Nazi Holocaust. In accomplishing this feat, he himself disappeared into the labyrinth of the Soviet prisons. The film contains a wealth of archival material. Astonishing footage of ghetto pogroms and enforced death marches are interwoven with interviews with survivors who owe their lives to Wallenberg, and those who have reported seeing him alive.
Wallenberg – A Hero's Story (aka The Lost Hero)
Lamont Johnson, USA, 1985, 200 min, fiction
This TV drama was scripted by Gerald Green (Holocaust) and directed by Lamont Johnson (who won an Emmy for it.) Richard Chamberlain plays Raoul Wallenberg, descendant of a well-to-do family of Swedish bankers. Although a Christian “Aryan,” Wallenberg despises the antisemitism of the Hitler regime. Employed as a diplomat at the Swedish embassy in Budapest during WW II, Wallenberg is responsible for the escape of thousands Hungarian Jews, thereby earning the enmity Nazi functionary Adolph Eichmann (played by Kenneth Colley). Alas, Wallenberg himself falls victim to a “purge” of another variety at the end of the war, when he is arrested by the Soviets and subsequently vanishes.
Raoul Wallenberg – Between the Lines
Karin Altmann, USA/Australia, 1985, 86 min, documentary
Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, was responsible for saving thousands of lives. Friends, family, and former members of his staff describe Wallenberg's efforts to confront the Nazi destruction of Hungarian Jewry. The film examines the political background against which Raoul Wallenberg conducted his rescue efforts, especially the lack of refugee assistance provided to Jews by the United States, and also the controversy surrounding his arrest and imprisonment in 1945 by the Soviets. Historic film footage is used.
Wallenberg nyomában (Tracing Raoul Wallenberg)
Tamás Kovári, Hungary, 1989, 60 min, documentary
This TV documentary was the first Hungarian feature length film about Raoul Wallenberg to be broadcast on Hungarian public television. It includes testimonies of Per Anger, Second Secretary at the Swedish Embassy and Margaret Bauer, his translator; interviews with Congressman Steny Hoyer and violinist Isaac Stern; and speeches of students of the University of Jerusalem, participating in a Raoul Wallenberg Fellowship program. Some of the most remarkable parts of the film were shot at the Józsefvárosi Railway Station, which was the departure point for most of the trains carrying Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Raoul Wallenberg – fånge i Sovjet (Raoul Wallenberg – Prisoner in the Soviet Union)
Olle Häger and Hans Villius (Producers), Sweden, 1990, 55 min, TV documentary
The historian Hans Villius began working with TV-producer Olle Häger at the Sveriges Television (SVT); their very productive collaboration spanned some two decades. During the 1980s and 1990s Häger and Villius produced several popular documentaries, among them Raoul Wallenberg - fånge i Sovjet (Raoul Wallenberg – Prisoner in the Soviet Union), which explores the Swedish diplomat's tragic fate after being abducted by the Soviets immediately following the siege of Budapest.
Találkozások* (Wallenberg)
János Herskó, Hungary, 1990, 100 min, documentary
The main character of this documentary film is Per Anger, Raoul Wallenberg's fellow diplomat, who travels to Budapest to revisit the places that were essential to Wallenberg's rescue work: the building of the Swedish Legation in the Buda Hills, the International Ghetto, the Józsefvárosi Railway Station, etc. While recollecting his memories, he also meets people whose life was saved by Wallenberg's protective passports, who tell the stories of their escape; participates at the unveiling of the memorial plaque on the corner of the Wallenberg Street and visits the Wallenberg Memorial in Pasarét.
Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg!*
Kjell Grede, Sweden, 1990, 115 min, fiction
This historical drama recalls the story of Swedish businessman Raoul Wallenberg (played emotionally by Stellan Skarsgǻrd), who helped Jews in Budapest, Hungary in 1944-1945 obtain Swedish passports, thus getting them out of Adolph Eichmann's deadly path. He saved over 60,000 people in Budapest's Jewish ghettos. The film was lensed in Hungary, with the participation of famous Hungarian actors.
Missiya Raulya Vallenberga (The Mission of Raoul Wallenberg)
Alexander Rodnyansky, USSR, 1991, 70 min, documentary
This sketchy and sometimes crudely made Soviet documentary attempts at clarifying the story of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who, while he was stationed in Nazi-occupied Hungary late in 1944, arranged for almost 100,000 Jews to find safety. When the Soviet army liberated Hungary, Wallenberg was arrested and taken away. The details of what happened to him after that are shrouded in mystery, though he is generally believed to have perished in a Soviet prison in 1947. The film explores many mysteries surrounding his arrest and disappearance, including claims that Leonid Brezhnev may have been involved in it, but it provides few answers.
A halottak jó emberek – Egy törvényszéki orvos emlékei*
(Dead People Are Good People – Memories of A Forensic Pathologist)
János Fuzik, Hungary, 1994, 55 min, documentary
This documentary film is about “the Paganini of the dissector,” Dr. Lóránd Tamáska, a forensic pathologist from Budapest, who witnessed the dark period of Hungarian history between 1944-1957 from a rather peculiar perspective: from behind the autopsy table. Though the film itself is not directly related to Wallenberg, Tamáska makes a statement on the circumstances of his death, which corroborates the fact that the Soviets did everything in their power to suggest that Wallenberg fell victim to the shootings during the siege of Budapest. At one point he recalls a meeting with two Hungarian editors of the Soviet military periodical Új Szó (New Word), who – among others – falsely ascertained that he had performed an autopsy on Wallenberg in 1945.
Rescue in Scandinavia
Margaret Walden, USA, 1994, 55 min, educational film
Narrated by Liv Ulmann, “Rescue in Scandinavia” offers recollections and interpretations of ordinary people who provided extraordinary assistance to others in desperate need. The film centers on the comments of people who acted as individuals to help other individuals, for no reason other than it was the right thing to do. It portrays the urgency of the rescue activities and the selfless manner in which they were undertaken in spite of the risks to the rescuers. The moral courage of the rescuers is clearly distinguished from the inhumanity of the persecutors and the indifference of the bystanders.
Among the people mentioned are: Ambassador Per Anger, who tells about Raoul Wallenberg's experience at the Swedish embassy in Hungary; Raoul Wallenberg, who designed the “protective passport” to help Jews escape from Hungary; and Count Folke Bernadotte, who organized the Swedish Red Cross to rescue prisoners of war and Jews from German concentration camps.
Wallenberg – Autopsie d'une disparition (Wallenberg – The Autopsy of A Disappearance)
Jean-Charles Deniau, France, 1996, 52 min, documentary
Raoul Wallenberg, the heir of one of Sweden's most influential dynasties in the 1930s, is sent on a mission to Hungary by the American War Refugee Board. He arrived in Budapest on July 9, 1944. After saving thousands of Jews from deportation, he mysteriously disappeared from Budapest on January 17, 1945. The circumstances and reasons of his disappearance are to date unclear. Nevertheless, new testimonies and unpublished archives allow to view this 60 year old mystery in a different light.
The Last Days
James Moll, USA, 1998, 87 min, documentary
Nominated for two Oscars, and eventually winning one for the Best Documentary in 1999, “The Last Days” features the recollections of five Hungarian-American Holocaust survivors who describe their experiences during the last days of WWII. They are: Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), Alice Lok Cahana, a painter; Renée Firestone, an educator working with the Simon Wiesenthal Center; Bill Basch, a businessman; and Irene Zisblatt, a grandmother. Each recollects his or her story of escape, among them Basch and Lantos mentioning their dealings and experiences with Swedish diplomat and humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg. (Both worked for the Zionist underground movement, while Lantos lived in constant fear in one of Wallenberg’s safe houses in Budapest.)
Raoul lever (Raoul Is Alive)
Peter R. Meyer, Sweden, 1998, 29 min, documentary
This short documentary is about the international art competition held by the Stockholm City Council for the erection of a monument dedicated to Raoul Wallenberg. It includes the presentation of the six artists and their contributions. Children from the Östermalm School are guided by Nina Lagergren at Kappsta, Lidingö, where Wallenberg was born. The children show their proposals for a memorial.
Per Anger about Raoul Wallenberg*
Kate Wacz, Sweden, 1998, 40 min, amateur video
This amateur video was made by Mrs. Kate Wacz, a Holocaust survivor from Budapest saved by Raoul Wallenberg, on May 16, 1998, on the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel. The footage contains the testimony of Per Anger, a former Secretary at the Swedish Legation in Budapest, on his colleague, Raoul Wallenberg and his rescue efforts.
History's Mysteries – Vanished
USA, 2001, 50 min, TV documentary
This program is part of the popular series from the History Channel that investigates some of civilization's unsolved mysteries and controversies. This episode tells the stories of people who vanished without a trace. Some did so on purpose; others may have been victims of foul play or accidents. But none of them were ever seen again. Unsolved missing persons cases, such as those of Amelia Earhart, D.B. Cooper, Judge Joseph Crater and Raoul Wallenberg, are presented. Historians and forensic experts offer their opinions. Archival film clips, photographs, and personal accounts reflect the views of those who were left behind when people vanish.
Raoul och de 30 monumenten (Raoul and the 30 Monuments)
Peter R. Meyer, Sweden, 2001, 55 min, documentary
The film exposes the question why it has taken more than 50 years before Raoul Wallenberg was honored with a monument in his own birthplace Stockholm. On August 24, 2001, the monument created by the artist Kirsten Ortwed was inaugurated on Raoul Wallenberg Square at Nybroviken, Stockholm. It also includes footage on memorials and more than 30 monuments dedicated to Wallenberg all over the world.
Searching for Wallenberg
Robert L. Kimmel (Producer), USA, 2003, 58 min, documentary
Both a historical documentary and a revealing investigation, this film contains newly discovered archival material and exclusive interviews with witnesses from the former USSR who claim to have seen Wallenberg in the Soviet Gulag years after the Soviets officially declared him dead.
Wallenberg emléke* (The Memory of Raoul Wallenberg)
András Szitányi, Hungary, 2003, 30 min, educational film
Using archival footage and documents, this educational film puts Raoul Wallenberg's story in the larger context of the Holocaust in Europe and especially Hungary. Narrated mainly by the historian László Karsai, a renowned Hungarian Holocaust expert, the film covers a variety of topics including the Anti-Jewish Legislation, the ghettoization and deportation of the Jews, and the rise of the Arrow Cross Party, as well as the interventions of Wallenberg in Budapest and his tragic fate after the Soviets arrested him on January 17, 1945.
Ramp om historia – Wallenberg i Budapest (Ramp on history – Wallenberg in Budapest)
Gustav Hultman (Producer), Sweden, 2004, 45 min, TV documentary
Filmed in Hungary, this documentary explores the rescue efforts of Raoul Wallenberg during WWII. In the midst of the raging war, the Swedish Legation in Budapest saved the lives of a great number of Jews. Three of them give their accounts of how the diplomat Raoul Wallenberg negotiated with the Nazis about their lives.
Der Fall Raoul Wallenberg – Retter und Opfer
(The Case of Raoul Wallenberg – Saviour and Victim)
Klaus Dexel, Germany, 2005, 88 min, TV documentary
This documentary tells the story of Raoul Wallenberg, who traveled to Budapest in 1944 to rescue as many Jews as possible. In less then six months he managed to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi and Arrow Cross death machinery. He was arrested and deported by the Soviets on January 17, 1945, after which he disappeared. The film also explores Wallenberg's youth and his complicated relation with his larger family, and leads the viewer into the KGB's prisons and archives. Eye-witnesses, family members and well informed people deliberate on the possible reasons of his mysterious disappearance.
Dead Men's Secrets – Whatever Happened to Raoul Wallenberg?
USA, 2005, TV documentary
Produced for The History Channel, the film exposes the tragic fate of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat posted in Budapest at the height of the Third Reich. Using his diplomatic standing to issue immunity passes he was not authorized to grant, he saved thousands of people from the gas chambers. But he disappeared in 1945, never to be seen again. The documentary seeks to answer important questions: Was he killed by the Nazis he thwarted for so long? Did he escape death but feel compelled to hide from the evil he had defied? This episode follows the trails uncovered by his family, researchers and governments in the search of the truth.
Rév Lívia zongorista* (Pianist Lívia Rév)
János Mácsai and György Pálos, Hungary, 2006, 59 min, documentary
Made on the occasion of her 90th birthday, this documentary film is about Lívia Rév, a famous pianist who survived the persecution of the Hungarian Jews due to Raoul Wallenberg's rescue efforts. Rév studied at the Budapest Music Academy under the guidance of Leó Weiner and Arnold Székely, and graduated in 1938 in the presence of Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály and Ernő Dohnányi. In 1946 she emigrated to Paris to start her extraordinary career. She toured the world with the most famous conductors, among them Adrian Boult, Jascha Horenstein, and Constantin Silvestri.
Raoul Wallenberg – L'Ange de Budapest (Raoul Wallenberg – The Angel of Budapest)
Marcel Collet, Canada, 2006, 60 min, TV documentary
This is the extraordinary story of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during WW II, presented through the personal experiences of four Canadians: Susan Vadnay of Montreal, Dr. Erwin Koranyi of Ottawa, and Maria Gomori of Winnipeg, all of whom survived Budapest’s Jewish ghetto, and David Matas, a Winnipeg-based human rights lawyer.