H. R. 3001 

One Hundred Twelfth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twelve 

An Act 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Raoul Wallenberg, in recognition of his 

achievements and heroic actions during the Holocaust. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Raoul Wallenberg Centennial 

Celebration Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

The Congress finds as follows: 

(1) Raoul Wallenberg was born in Europe on August 4, 

1912, to Swedish Christian parents. 

(2) In 1935, he graduated from the University of Michigan 

in Ann Arbor, completing a five-year program in three-anda-half years. 

(3) In a letter to his grandfather, Wallenberg wrote of 

his time in America: ‘‘I feel so at home in my little Ann 

Arbor that I’m beginning to sink down roots here and have 

a hard time imagining my leaving it. . . . Every now and 

then I feel strange when I think about how tiny my own 

country is and how large and wonderful America is.’’. 

(4) Raoul returned to Sweden, where he began a career 

as a businessman, and afterwards, a Swedish diplomat. 

(5) In 1936, Raoul’s grandfather arranged a position for 

him at the Holland Bank in Haifa, Palestine. There Raoul 

began to meet young Jews who had already been forced to 

flee from Nazi persecution in Germany. Their stories affected 

him deeply. 

(6) He was greatly troubled by the fate of Jews in Europe, 

confiding to actress Viveca Lindfors the horrific plight of Jews 

under Nazi Europe. 

(7) Under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 

the War Refugee Board was established in January 1944 to 

aid civilians that fell victim to the Nazi and Axis powers in 

Europe. 

(8) One of War Refugee Board’s top priorities was protection 

of the 750,000 Hungarian Jews still alive. 

(9) It was decided that Raoul Wallenberg, aged 31 at the 

time, would be most effective in protecting Jews and victims 

of the Nazis in Hungary under the War Refugee Board. He 

was recruited by Iver Olsen, an agent for the Office of Strategic 

Services and sent to Budapest, Hungary, under his official 

profession as a Swedish diplomat. He was instructed to use 
H. R. 3001—2 

passports and other creative means to save as many lives 

as possible. 

(10) Wallenberg created a new Swedish passport, the 

Schutzpass, which looked more imposing and official than the 

actual Swedish passport. He reportedly put up huge place cards 

of it throughout Budapest to make the Nazis familiar with 

it. He unilaterally announced that it granted the holder immunity from the death camps. The Schutzpasses alone are credited 

with saving 20,000 Jewish lives. 

(11) In one example of his heroism, Wallenberg was told 

of a Nazi plot to round up several thousand Jewish women 

and acted swiftly to save them. Former Wallenberg staffer, 

Agnes Adachi, recalls the time when she and other staff, spent 

the whole night making around 2,000 Schutzpasses before 6 

a.m. They were all completed and personally delivered to the 

women in time to save their lives. 

(12) Using the money the United States put into the War 

Refugee Board, Wallenberg was able to purchase about thirty 

buildings, which he used as hospitals, schools, soup kitchens, 

and safe houses for over 8,000 children whose parents have 

already been deported or killed. 

(13) Tommy Lapid, a young boy who was staying with 

his mother in a Swedish safe house (his father was already 

dead), gave an eyewitness account of how his family was helped 

by Wallenberg and the War Refugee Board: ‘‘One morning, 

a group of Hungarian Fascists came into the house and said 

that all the able-bodied women must go with them. We knew 

what this meant. My mother kissed me and I cried and she 

cried. We knew we were parting forever and she left me there, 

an orphan to all intents and purposes. Then two or three 

hours later, to my amazement, my mother returned with the 

other women. It seemed like a mirage, a miracle. My mother 

was there—she was alive and she was hugging me and kissing 

me, and she said one word: Wallenberg.’’. 

(14) Even as the war was coming to a close, Wallenberg 

remained vigilant and attentive to the people under his care. 

Adolf Eichmann, the SS colonel charged with the extermination 

of Jews in Eastern Europe, was determined to exterminate 

the 70,000 Jews kept as prisoners in a guarded ghetto in 

Budapest. As soon as Wallenberg heard of the plot, he sent 

Pal Szalay, an Arrow-Crossman senior official, who defected 

and turned to Wallenberg. Szalay was sent to speak to General 

Schmidthuber, who was ordered to spearhead the ghetto 

extermination in Budapest. Szalay informed Schmidthuber 

that, seeing as the war was coming to an end, if the planned 

massacre took place, Wallenberg would see to it personally 

that Schmidthuber would be prosecuted as a war criminal 

and hanged. The plans were ultimately abandoned and considered Wallenberg’s last big victory. 

(15) Of the 120,000 Hungarian Jews that survived, Raoul 

Wallenberg, acting under the War Refugee Board, is credited 

with saving an estimated 100,000 of them in a six-month period. 

(16) Raoul Wallenberg’s fate remains a mystery. In January 

13, 1945, he contacted the Russians in an effort to secure 

food for the Jews under his protection—as he was still working 

hard to protect them. 
H. R. 3001—3 

(17) In 1981, President Ronald Reagan made Raoul 

Wallenberg an honorary citizen of the United States, an honor 

only previously extended to Winston Churchill. 

(18) These findings show that Raoul Wallenberg showed 

exceptional heroism and bravery with his actions during the 

holocaust. Working with the War Refugee Board, a United 

State’s agency, he was able to save about 100,000 Hungarian 

Jews, many of which were later able to immigrate to the 

United States. 

(19) Indeed, hundreds of thousands of American Jews can 

directly or indirectly attribute their own lives to Raoul 

Wallenberg’s actions during World War II. Many of the people 

Wallenberg saved have been influential citizens contributing 

to American institutions and culture, including Congressman 

Tom Lantos (February 1, 1928–February 11, 2008), Annette 

Lantos, and the Liska Rebbe, Rabbi Yoizef (Joseph) Friedlander, 

who carried forth the Liska Hassidic dynasty from Hungary 

to the United States after being saved by Raoul Wallenberg. 

(20) His actions and character make him an excellent contender for a Congressional Gold Medal in time for the centennial of his birth, to celebrate his achievements and humanitarian accomplishments. 

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House 

of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 

shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on 

behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to 

the next of kin or personal representative of Raoul Wallenberg, 

in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions during the 

Holocaust. 

(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the presentation 

referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions 

to be determined by the Secretary. 

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may 

prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate medals in bronze 

of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 and sell such duplicate medals at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the duplicate 

medals (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead 

expenses) and the cost of the gold medal. 

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursuant to this 

Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, 

United States Code. 

(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 5134 of title 

31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall 

be considered to be numismatic items. 

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF CHARGES.—There is authorized to be 

charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, 

such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the 

medals struck pursuant to this Act. 
H. R. 3001—4 

(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the sale of 

duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be deposited in the 

United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.