Tomas Vogel in Jerusalem recalls how he and his mother and two sisters were saved by Raoul Wallenberg in a dramatic operation. In the autumn 1944 they were living in a closed ghetto just a kilometer from the Danube river. They were ordered at gunpoint to march to the river where they would be shot by the Hungarian fascists. Just before they reached the river, Raoul Wallenberg appeared on the scene. I was just 4 years old but I still remember very clearly what happened that day. The images in my mind were later explained to me. Raoul nWallenberg jumped out of his car, stopped the death march, paid off the fascists to release us. We were 800 people in the march. I saw Raoul Wallenberg from a distance of only one meter, a tall and handsome man. I saw his portfolio in which he kept the money. The team of Wallenberg took the group to one of the Swedish protective houses where they stayed until the end of the war.
I will never forget the 30 seconds that I saw Raoul Wallenberg. He saved my life. He came from heaven like an angel, saved us and disappeared up to the Lord. I got my life like a present. Tomas and his sisters are living in Jerusalem since 1964. Tomas visited the Raoul Wallenberg park in Zora Forest on the invitation of Keren Kajemet, Sweden, responsible for building the park in memory of Raoul Wallenberg. In 2013 Tomas Vogel participated in a ceremony for the 100 years anniversary since the birth of Raoul Wallenberg 1912 – 2012, where he also met a member of the Wallenberg family.
