One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Hungary, 1943-1944.

The Swedish king appoints Raoul Wallenberg, a businessman from a wealthy Swedish family, to be the first clerk of the Swedish embassy in Hungary. His sole task was to save as many jews as possible. Using whatever means he seemed fit. Until then Hungary was an 'independant' nation under command of General Horthy that was fighting with the Germans against the Russians.
But Horthy had enough of the war and wanted peace and tried to secure a peace with the Russians. However, the Germans prevented this with barging into Hungary and seizing control.

Adolf Eichmann, a pathetic little man, by all means, tried to start up the deportation of Jews as soon as possible. Deathmarches were common, deathmarches so harsh even the SS complained about the hardships that had to be dealt with.

Raoul Wallenberg set up a large network and started handing out visa, passes, created 'safe swedish houses', singlehandedly stopped the deportation of the Jews out of Budapest, was everywhere (he had free travel as he was a citizen (and an embassy clerk) of a neutral country), got shot at, handed out passes just to save a little more Jews.

By his individual action he saved about hundred thousand jews. He is most likely one of the biggest hero's of the second world war. Far more then Oscar Schindler who, in retrospect, damned well knew that he personally didn't endanger himself that much to save the few Jews that he had. Just like Albert Göring, brother of, who directed the Skoda factories.

So this man, Raoul Wallenberg, who singlehandedly put everything at risk, but more importantely, achieved so much, mainly because he knew how you should play the Germans, namely through there own system. Papers, visa, cards, lists, protected list, more lists, more paperwork., is a hero. One that I really look up to, since everything that I read about him sounds like he did a hero's job, not for his own sake, no, for that of others, he didn't get much credit, benefit or whatever out of it. He just helped those people.

Now because of his businesscontacts and his contacts with the Germans, the paranoid NKVD, the Russian predecessor of the KGB, easilly saw him as a Western spy and deported him to a Gulach, where he was probably executed in 1947. However the Russians always denied this, but said that in 1957 he died of heart failure.
So you do all this and then the Russians come around with their 'elite intelligence' and you die. Noone cares about you, only the Swedes did.

A hero that cannot be praised enough.
A tale of much tragedy.

A story that really does impress me.

On a second note, why is it that Auswitsch is such a symbol, while Chelmno, Belzec, Treblinka and Sobibor. Why you may ask, because Auswitsch was also a workcamp. While the average stay of the other four was about 2 hours. And of those two hours about 20 minutes where breathing. After that you got gassed and incinerated.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Perhaps with better spelling...
"independent"
"death-marches"
"importantly"
"business contacts"
"easily"
"Auschwitz"

...it might have been an impressing story.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

If you didnt use Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v to make this thread im impressed.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

'Oswiecim' is the official Polish name for the village

and ofcourse, the spelling does make all the differerence. Which, ironically, would've made the difference if you were a Jew and on the deportationlist, but your name was spelled wrong.

In that case, you are.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

look has anyone pointed out that the dates don't add up yet?

i got to 'germany barged in' or whatever (in 43 indeed) before i saw the inside of my head

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Wallenberg was appointed in June '44.

In Oktober '44 the Germans seized control.

However, Stalingrad was in '43 when the Nazi's were really losing in Russia and Miklos Horthy wanted a way out for his people.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

in hungary?

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Yes, learn your history.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

pwned
________
mexico hotels

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Thence the comedy in the phrase "Spelling Nazi".

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

are you trying to say that the german's seized control of hungary in 1944?

(i'm still bowled over by your audacity)

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

It is a heroic story regardless of spelling or dates. I liked it.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944, known as 'Operation Margarete'. As Theamion said, "learn your history".

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Crashtester consider this a warning. stop being shit at once.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Stop being shit? You need to elaborate my friend. lots of green blobs indicate that generally I am not shit, so tell which part of my 'MrL_JaKiri minimal wording' style post needs tweaking and I'll tweak it.

Thanks for the heads up dude.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

hungary was an ally before, so there was no need to take control. same as italy and romania.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Hear, hear.

It was a story I was unfamiliar with and one that I found interesting.

Thanks Theam.

On a side note, stop ruining a good thread you pedantic shits.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Cool story, hadn't heard of it before.
So how long till a movie is made out of this?

"I rescued a crap load of jews and all I got was a shot in the face* and this T-shirt"

*bullets etc.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

pwned twice in one thread.
________
extreme vaporizer

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

i long for the day you get banned. again.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

i was always under the impression that germany didnt occupy hungary as such, but supported the puppet government of the arrow cross party (shit name for a party tbh) but then i looked it up and found out that german troops did enter the country in 1944. every days a school day :up:

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

he genuinely cared as far as I know, he deliberately took those risks .. the firemen of 9/11 went into a few hours of a crisis situation while Raoul Wallenberg did this day in day out for a good period of time. Running over the trains that transported Jews to the deathcamps to hand out passes so they would be saved, walking towards people who were on a deathmarch and handing out more passes while SS members sometimes shot at him. (For your information, a deathmarch is something else then the municipal Four-Evenings March)

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

I've got a used one-way ticket to Oswiecim...

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

1) They handed over norwegian citizens to the germans. (Read Jan Guillou; Den aktverdige morderen, or books by historian Lars Borgersrud, like: Nødvendig innsats).

2) They sold iron ore from the Kiruna mines.

3) They sold ball-bearings, and later ball-bearing machines to Germany.

4) They escorted ships trading with Germany.

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

What did it look like?

Re: One of the most impressing stories I know...
 

Well, a lot of people sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau were also gassed more or less immediately as well. It's important to recognise that Auschwitz was a complex of camps rather than a single operation. On the whole, people who were sent to Birkenau (Auschwitz II) were murdered fairly quickly, just as in the other exterimantion centres. A small few would be singled out for labour or medical experimentation in the other Auschwitz facilities.

There's also the small fact that Auschwitz accounts for by far the largest number of deaths. (Topping Treblinka, it's nearest rival, by at least 100,000.)