Per Anger
Encyclopedia
Per Johan Valentin Anger (7 December 1913 – 26 August 2002) was a Swedish
diplomat who participated in numerous efforts to rescue Hungarian
Jews
from arrest and deportation by the Nazis during World War II
.
. Soon afterwards, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
offered him a trainee position at the Swedish legation
in Berlin
, which he began in January 1940. Anger was assigned to the trade department, but after the legation received information about an impending Nazi attack on Norway
and Denmark
, he became involved in relaying intelligence to Stockholm. In June 1941 he returned to Stockholm, where he worked on trade relations between Sweden and Hungary
. In November 1942 he was sent to Budapest as second secretary at the Swedish legation.
After Germany invaded Hungary on 19 March 1944, Anger became involved in efforts to aid Hungarian Jews. Anger originated the idea of issuing Swedish provisional passports and special certificates to protect Jews from internment and deportation. Seven hundred of these documents were issued initially. Although the legality of the documents was doubtful, the Hungarian government agreed to recognize their bearers as Swedish citizens. On 9 July, Raoul Wallenberg
arrived in Budapest. He immediately extended Anger's initiative, introducing colorful protective passes (Schutzpasse) and creating "safe houses" throughout the city. Anger and Wallenberg worked together, often literally snatching people from transports and death marches. After the Soviets invaded in January 1945, both Anger and Wallenberg were taken into custody. Anger was released three months later, but Wallenberg never emerged again, becoming one of the 20th Century's most famous missing persons.
, Ethiopia
, France
, Austria
and the United States
. He later became head of Sweden's international aid program and served as ambassador
to Australia
, Canada
and the Bahamas. Throughout his post-war career, Anger led efforts to learn what happened to Wallenberg, even meeting personally with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev
in the 1980s. In 2000, the Russian government finally acknowledged that Wallenberg and his driver died in Soviet custody in 1947, although the exact circumstances of their deaths remain unclear.
as one of the Righteous Among the Nations
and in 1995 he was honored with the Hungarian Republic's Order of Merit.
In 1995, Anger was awarded the Wallenberg Medal by the University of Michigan
in recognition of his extraordinary courage and humanitarian commitment.
In 2000, he was awarded honorary Israel
i citizenship. In 2001, the American Swedish Historical Museum
presented him with the Spirit of Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award.
In April, 2002 Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson
awarded Anger the Illis Quorum Meruere Labores for his actions during and after the war. Illis Quorum
(For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It) is the highest award that can be conferred upon an individual Swedish citizen by the Government of Sweden. Anger died in Stockholm
after suffering a stroke.
In 2011 the Per Anger Prize was awarded to the Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
diplomat who participated in numerous efforts to rescue Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
from arrest and deportation by the Nazis during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Early career
Born in Göteborg, Anger studied law at the University of Stockholm and later at the University of Uppsala. After graduating in November 1939, he was drafted into the ArmySwedish Army
The Swedish Army is one of the oldest standing armies in the world and a branch of the Swedish Armed Forces; it is in charge of land operations. General Sverker Göranson is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army.- Organization :...
. Soon afterwards, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for Swedish foreign policy.Current ministers:*Carl Bildt Head of Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs.*Ewa Björling as Minister for Foreign Trade...
offered him a trainee position at the Swedish legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, which he began in January 1940. Anger was assigned to the trade department, but after the legation received information about an impending Nazi attack on Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, he became involved in relaying intelligence to Stockholm. In June 1941 he returned to Stockholm, where he worked on trade relations between Sweden and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. In November 1942 he was sent to Budapest as second secretary at the Swedish legation.
After Germany invaded Hungary on 19 March 1944, Anger became involved in efforts to aid Hungarian Jews. Anger originated the idea of issuing Swedish provisional passports and special certificates to protect Jews from internment and deportation. Seven hundred of these documents were issued initially. Although the legality of the documents was doubtful, the Hungarian government agreed to recognize their bearers as Swedish citizens. On 9 July, Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
arrived in Budapest. He immediately extended Anger's initiative, introducing colorful protective passes (Schutzpasse) and creating "safe houses" throughout the city. Anger and Wallenberg worked together, often literally snatching people from transports and death marches. After the Soviets invaded in January 1945, both Anger and Wallenberg were taken into custody. Anger was released three months later, but Wallenberg never emerged again, becoming one of the 20th Century's most famous missing persons.
Later career
After the war, Anger served in numerous diplomatic posts in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He later became head of Sweden's international aid program and served as ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the Bahamas. Throughout his post-war career, Anger led efforts to learn what happened to Wallenberg, even meeting personally with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
in the 1980s. In 2000, the Russian government finally acknowledged that Wallenberg and his driver died in Soviet custody in 1947, although the exact circumstances of their deaths remain unclear.
Honors
In 1982, Anger was recognized by Yad VashemYad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
as one of the Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
and in 1995 he was honored with the Hungarian Republic's Order of Merit.
In 1995, Anger was awarded the Wallenberg Medal by the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in recognition of his extraordinary courage and humanitarian commitment.
In 2000, he was awarded honorary Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i citizenship. In 2001, the American Swedish Historical Museum
American Swedish Historical Museum
The American Swedish Historical Museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States. It is located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the South Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on part of a historic 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen...
presented him with the Spirit of Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award.
In April, 2002 Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson was the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Conceding defeat in the September 2006 general election, he announced that he would resign as party leader, and Mona Sahlin was elected to succeed him as...
awarded Anger the Illis Quorum Meruere Labores for his actions during and after the war. Illis Quorum
Illis Quorum
Illis Quorum ["For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"], today the highest award that can be conferred upon an individual Swedish citizen by the Government of Sweden....
(For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It) is the highest award that can be conferred upon an individual Swedish citizen by the Government of Sweden. Anger died in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
after suffering a stroke.
Per Anger Prize
The Per Anger Prize was instituted by the Swedish Government to honor the memory of ambassador Per Anger and is awarded for humanitarian work and initiatives in the name of Democracy. The prize is awarded to individuals or groups who have distinguished themselves either in the past or in more recent times.In 2011 the Per Anger Prize was awarded to the Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi
Narges Mohammadi
Narges Mohammadi is a Journalist and Iranian activist.She was born 1972 in Zanjan.She became a professional engineer after graduating in physics at the International Imam Khomeini University. During her university studies she organized a university formation named Roshangaran and wrote articles for...
Other sources
- Skoglund, Elisabeth R. A Quiet Courage -- Per Anger, Wallenberg's Co-Liberator of Hungarian Jews. (published by Baker Books. 1997)
External links
See also
- Raoul WallenbergRaoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...