Raoul Wallenberg Centennial Celebration Act
PL 112-148 (H.R.3001), enacted 07/26/2012

126 STAT. 1140 
PUBLIC LAW 112–148—JULY 26, 2012 
Public Law 112–148 
112th Congress 
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-and- 
a-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 
31 USC 5111 
note. 
Raoul 
Wallenberg 
Centennial 
Celebration Act. 
July 26, 2012 
[H.R. 3001] 
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126 STAT. 1141 
PUBLIC LAW 112–148—JULY 26, 2012 
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 immu-
nity 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 consid-
ered 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. 
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126 STAT. 1142 
PUBLIC LAW 112–148—JULY 26, 2012 
(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 con-
tender for a Congressional Gold Medal in time for the centen-
nial of his birth, to celebrate his achievements and humani-
tarian 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 dupli-
cate 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. 
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126 STAT. 1143 
PUBLIC LAW 112–148—JULY 26, 2012 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 3001: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 158 (2012): 
Apr. 16, considered and passed House. 
July 11, considered and passed Senate. 
(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. 
Approved July 26, 2012. 
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